Venture capital firm Lemnos has launched its third fund, a USD50 million fund focused on hardware and the growing ecosystem of software surrounding the hardware renaissance.
Now in its sixth year Lemnos provides an advisory role to its portfolio companies to guide entrepreneurs along the complex path of hardware creation.
"At Lemnos, we make smart bets on small teams of visionary entrepreneurs, and we are full-time partners with them to painstakingly guide their businesses to success," says Lemnos partner Jeremy Conrad. "Our experience has taught us that great companies are defined by great people first and great ideas second. With our third fund, we are excited to continue to invest in visionary entrepreneurs who are forging breakthrough technologies. We continue to be in our entrepreneurs' corner, shaping the way they think and transforming their potential into purpose."
Lemnos focuses on pre-seed and seed round funding and prefers to lead or co-lead rounds ranging from USD500,000 to USD3 million. The firm screens hundreds of entrepreneurs each year and chooses a select few with the tenacity to transform their ideas into viable companies. Working as partners to the entrepreneurs, Lemnos takes the founders' passion for ideas and then helps them to create diverse teams, identify market forces, and uncover addressable audiences.
Focused on more complex solutions and larger disruptions, Lemnos portfolio companies have tackled aerospace, applied robotics, consumer electronics, advanced manufacturing, health, agriculture and enterprise IoT opportunities.
"Lemnos has been an incredible partner to us, especially in the early days. They bring deep strategic thinking about the particular issues hardware companies face, as well as practical contacts and know-how on the daily challenges," says Tim Harris, CEO of Swift Navigation. "I'm really excited to see what they'll do with the new capital to expand the hardware start-up ecosystem."
"Lemnos has been outstanding from day one. I've never met anyone with their passion for hardware and ability to network," says Peter Platzer, CEO of Spire Global. "And when it comes to helping companies raise money, they are simply a superstar team. Spire would not be where we are without them."
Dave Merrill, entrepreneur in residence at Lemnos, adds: "Lemnos has been a great partner for my new company. The frequent interactions I have within the community of founders in the portfolio provides real camaraderie and opportunities to learn from each other. The best part is how committed the partners are to helping their companies and founders succeed – pitching in on strategy, operations and fundraising whenever we need them."
Founded in 2011, Lemnos has launched two previous funds and made investments in 39 companies. Lemnos invests in enterprise, high-tech and consumer start-ups and is based in San Francisco's Dogpatch neighbourhood.
