As the mobility and micro-mobility sector grapples with strong headwinds, evidenced by Bird Mobility’s recent Chapter 11 bankruptcy, VC firm Maniv Mobility has rallied investor confidence, successfully closing its third venture fund, Maniv Mobility III, at $127.5 million. The fund size grew commitments by $22.5 million since its first closing in June this year.
Managing Partner and founder Michael Granoff’s experience, seasoned by his early investment in Better Place – Shai Agassi’s electric vehicle battery startup that raised $750 million, only to be sold for $12 million – heavily contributes to the firm’s resilient ropes and ability to weather vicious market turbulence.
Maniv Mobility was founded in 1997 by Granoff. With a portfolio spanning 34 startups, the firm invests globally, from autonomous ADAS to rentable scooters, semiconductors, hydrogen fuel cells and automotive cyber security. By and large; deep tech.
Amid the market volatility, Maniv Mobility’s investment pace hasn’t wavered. Focused on Seed and Series A stages, investments from Maniv Mobility III already total three startups, such as Israel-based NeoLogic, Harbinger Motors, and Vammo. Vammo is a São Paulo-based startup that specializes in electric motorcycle battery swapping.
With five portfolio exits, their predecessor funds indeed have some DPI to show. But the post-IPO performance of Arbe and Otonomo ($525 million and $1.4 billion IPO valuation, respectively) fall short of the characterization of enduring success. Otonomo was subsequently acquired in a reverse merger transaction by Urgently. Now, the combined entity trades at a market capitalization of $32 million, 98% below its SPAC IPO deal valuation. Meanwhile, Autotalks is still caught up in regulatory approval for its sale to Qualcomm (rumored for $350 million).
Nevertheless, Maniv Mobility’s successful fundraising endeavors place it among a select group of Israeli funds to raise capital in 2023, a year marked by fundraising difficulties, to put it lightly. Yet, this could set the stage for outsized future rewards. Some experts expect the 2023-2024 vintages will yield the highest returns of the venture capital asset class.
Maniv’s second fund was backed by a consortium of corporations, including Aptiv, BMW, Hyundai, Lear Corporation, alongside family offices and institutional investors. According to their SEC filing, 54 investors committed to the third fund.
Maniv Mobility opted not to comment on their fundraising efforts.
