HedgeCo.Net — Inspired Capital, the New York early-stage firm founded in 2019 by Alexa von Tobel and former U.S. Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker, has closed its fourth fund with $450 million of commitments. Von Tobel told TechCrunch the new capital brings the firm’s assets under management to nearly $1.4 billion.
Each Inspired fund has been larger than the last. The firm raised a $200 million debut fund, a $281 million second fund and a $330 million third fund that closed in early 2024. The strategy is unchanged: Inspired backs about 10 companies a year, from the earliest stage through Series A, with checks of $1 million to $15 million, and roughly a third of its portfolio is led by repeat founders.
The firm is now discussing results. Von Tobel said 12 companies across its first two funds have become unicorns, about 15% of that portfolio, and that it has more than 10 exits, including MosaicML, which Databricks acquired, Deeptune, acquired by Mercor, and Saturn, acquired by Snap. She said the second fund ranks in the top 5% of its cohort but declined to disclose cash-on-cash returns, citing the firm’s relative youth.
On liquidity, von Tobel said Inspired will sell “a few chips” once companies reach multibillion-dollar valuations but generally keeps more than 90% of its ownership, and uses secondaries mainly to add to positions in breakout companies. The portfolio is split roughly 45% East Coast, 45% West Coast and 10% elsewhere, and the firm has backed physical AI and quantum computing startups rather than following the crowd into AI applications.
The raise lands against a heavily concentrated venture market. Citing PitchBook, TechCrunch reported that Bay Area firms raised $352 billion for venture funds between 2020 and the end of 2025, about 46% of all U.S. venture capital, and took 55% of new commitments to U.S. venture funds last year. A steadily growing New York fund with disclosed exits gives LPs a data point that capital can still be raised outside Silicon Valley when a manager can point to distributions.