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Fintech-focused Portage Ventures raises its biggest fund to date

Lucinda Shen
Mar 10, 2022
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Illustration: Annelise Capossela/Axios

Fintech-f0cused Portage Ventures said it raised $616 million of a planned $700 million for its third fund.

Why it matters: This new fund, Portage's largest yet, signals continued competition in early-stage fintech valuations at a time when later-stage businesses are getting bruised.

Details: Portage will not make direct token investments, though Portage makes bets on crypto infrastructure companies, firm co-founder and CEO Adam Felesky tells Axios.

  • In another sign that Portage believes high, early-stage valuations are here to stay, the fund — by a conservative estimate — plans to invest an average $14 million per company in its third fund.
  • That figure was closer to $11 million for its second fund.

Yes but: It's more nuanced than early-stage = good, late-stage = bad.

  • Early-stage "consumer fintech is seeing a little more pressure given the capital intensity required to be a market leader," says Felesky.

The bottom line: The early-stage fintech space is not immune to the public market's turn away from growth and risk.

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