Cars are almost the new social apps when it comes to VC interest, especially given the pace of development of autonomous car tech and self-driving systems. It makes sense then that we’d see more dedicated automotive tech investment vehicles, including the just-launched V5, which is helmed by father and son team Sam Valenti III and Sam Valenti IV, sequentially-named investors who have raised $150 million in capital and $50 million via line of credit for a $200 million total initial fund.
The firm is based in Michigan, which is unusual for a VC from but makes perfect sense for a investing agency focus on cars and car-related tech. V5 has already invested in another fund, a $20 million vehicle operated by Rucks Venture Management which is banking on connected car tech specifically, and which counts self-driving startup and newsmakers Nutonomy and Nauto among its portfolio companies.
V5 isn’t going after early stage investments, but is looking to invest in B and C-stage rounds, the company told Crain’s Detroit Business.