Vestigo Ventures, a Boston-area venture firm that backs early-stage financial technology companies, said Thursday it has raised $58.9 million for its debut investment fund.
That’s a small amount, but it’s still likely welcome news for young fintech startups. Global venture capital investments in the sector reached a record $16.6 billion last year, but the number of early-stage deals continued to decline as investors placed bigger bets on more mature companies, according to a report from the VC-tracking firm CB Insights. That trend mirrors what’s been happening in venture capital investing across all sectors.
Cambridge, MA-based Vestigo got started two years ago and aimed to raise between $50 million and $75 million for its first fund, co-founder Ian Sheridan told Xconomy in early 2017. The firm is part of a wave of at least 15 early-stage, tech-focused startup funds that have popped up in the Boston area since early 2015. Others include Glasswing Ventures, which closed its first artificial intelligence-focused fund at $112 million in July, and Underscore VC, which raised its second fund ($117 million) in May, two years after raising its debut $85 million fund.
Vestigo’s founders include entrepreneur Dave Blundin, one of the firm’s general partners; Mark Casady, a general partner and former CEO of LPL Financial; and managing director Sheridan, a veteran of MassMutual. Vestigo’s other managing director is Mike Nugent, a former private equity investor who later co-founded and led the fintech startup Bison.
In a press release, Vestigo said it has invested in eight companies so far, including Boston-based firms LifeYield, which makes money management software, and TowerIQ, an insurance software firm.
