#USA #New York #Venture Capital #Overlap Holdings #Frontier Tech

Overlap Holdings Launches Flagship Fund

In a significant milestone for venture capital, Overlap Holdings has officially closed its first fund, named Overlap Holdings Flagship Fund 1 (OHF1), with a total of $33 million earmarked for investment in groundbreaking early-stage startups. This fund is purposefully designed to support innovative technologies that intersect scientific advancements with hardware solutions, targeting sectors like Energy, Life Sciences, Materials Science, Space exploration, Robotics, and Semiconductors.

Leadership and Vision

Justin Stevens, the founder of Overlap Holdings and a former Senior Partner at Apollo Global Management, leads the firm. With nearly two decades of experience in private equity, Stevens's vision for Overlap Holdings revolves around addressing the critical funding challenges that frontier tech startups face. He believes many founders struggle not due to a shortage of innovative ideas but because they lack access to essential capital at pivotal moments.

Stevens stated, "The mission of Overlap Holdings is to refocus venture on solving world-scale problems. Too often, frontier tech founders struggle not because they lack great ideas but because they lack access to the right type of capital, at the right time."

Innovative Fund Structure

The OHF1 fund adopts a unique, capital-first approach that combines equity investments with access to non-dilutive funding sources, primarily debt. For many frontier tech companies, this kind of capital is crucial for constructing facilities, financing pioneering projects, and scaling operations effectively without overly relying on equity investment.

The team at Overlap Holdings is backed by professionals like Chief Operating Officer Rob Morelli, who previously ran a debt desk at UBS for ten years, and Associate Gauri Jaswal, who has extensive experience in frontier tech investing. Their collective expertise in financial structuring sets Overlap apart from conventional venture capital firms that primarily emphasize engineering or operational prowess.

Morelli remarked, "Overlap Holdings is not a typical venture capital firm. While most firms focus on engineering or operations, we bring over 30 years of financial structuring expertise to this capital-intensive ecosystem."

Promising Portfolio

To date, Overlap Holdings has invested in 11 pioneering frontier tech startups, including well-known names like Impulse Space, Hadrian, Integrated Biosciences, Anthro Energy, and Mendaera. Overlap aims to finalize a total of 30-35 investments through OHF1, with average investment amounts projected at approximately $700,000.

The firm leverages a robust network of technical experts across its focus industries, helping in the underwriting process and enhancing the value delivered to its portfolio companies. Jaswal highlighted, "The connectivity with these industry leaders can be transformative for a startup. This is part of Overlap's special sauce—our ability to blend investment insight, market intelligence, and relationship science for a differentiated process and support."

A Commitment to Societal Betterment

Stevens underscores the firm’s commitment to backing companies that tackle some of society's most pressing issues. He contends that many key indicators of societal well-being are troubling—GDP growth is sluggish, life expectancy has stagnated, and public happiness is at a record low. He asserts, "Venture capital should be a powerful force for true innovation. I founded Overlap Holdings to help make that happen."

To learn more about Overlap Holdings and its mission to support frontier tech startups on their capital journey, visit www.overlapholdings.com. The firm aims to redefine how funding is approached in the venture capital space, placing a strong emphasis on both capital strategies and innovative solutions.

About Overlap Holdings

Founded in 2022, Overlap Holdings operates as a venture capital firm dedicated to fostering frontier tech startups through an integrated financial support model, combining equity with debt to bridge the financing gap for those committed to true innovation across various sectors.