Assembly Ventures Announces Inaugural $76 Million Mobility Fund Focused on the Physical and Digital Movement of People, Goods, Data and Energy

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Aug 16, 2023, 08:23 ET

Assembly Ventures has built the first transatlantic venture capital platform to invest in cutting-edge technologies in the mobility sector.
Founded by trailblazers in the mobility sector with strong operational and investment credentials, this brings total assets under management on the platform to $94 million after closing.
Substantial investment potential seen in mobility technologies is driven by a shift in Western industries' and governments' approach to rebalance their technological dependencies on China.
Focused investment thesis validated by a broad range of top tier corporate investors, family offices, institutional investors, private investors and organizations of strategic relevance across the U.S. and Europe.

DETROIT, Aug. 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Assembly Ventures ["Assembly"], the first early-stage transatlantic venture capital platform investing in cutting edge technologies across the mobility sector, today announced the successful closing of their inaugural $76 million Assembly Ventures Fund I ["Assembly I" or "the fund"]. Focused on series seed, A and B investments, Assembly is committed to strategically supporting outstanding entrepreneurs driving transformative innovations across land, air, sea, and space.

The successful fundraise reflects Assembly's strong credentials as a world-class team, guided by a focused investment philosophy and founded in 2020 by experienced mobility investors and operators Chris Thomas, Jessica Robinson, and Felix Scheuffelen.

Assembly recognizes substantial investment potential in the U.S. and Europe, especially in areas such as battery technology, clean energy solutions, climate tech, supply chain optimization, and automotive production. This is driven by a shift in many Western governments' and industries' approach to rebalance their technological dependencies, and as a result, the strengthening of public sector industrial policy to support critical investment.

Chris Thomas, co-founder and partner at Assembly Ventures said, "We believe that the world is on the cusp of a new geopolitical era where the West will increasingly choose to de-risk its heavy reliance on China. In the coming decades, we anticipate a radical reshaping of economies, especially in automotive and mobility technology across air, land, sea, and space, along with their respective supply chains. We look at the world through this lens to anticipate and identify which technologies are critical, unique, and capable of generating exceptional value for our investors. By strategically investing in these technologies, and helping our portfolio companies to scale, we aim to play a pivotal role in moving the world towards efficiency, sustainability, growth, and freedom."

With $94 million in assets under management, Assembly has benefited from its unique position with access to dealflow and thought-leaders in the industrial and innovation capitals of the Western world, including Detroit, Silicon Valley, Berlin. With the successful closing of the fund, Assembly Ventures is in the process of opening an office in the German capital to advise on European investments.

To date, it has announced several investments following their Mobility 4.0 thesis, including Metropolis Technologies, NAVIT, Our Next Energy (ONE), and Sortera.

"Selecting investors with a shared vision and values is one of the most important and foundational decisions a new company can make," said Mujeeb Ijaz, CEO & Founder of ONE. "As an early-stage investor, Assembly Ventures has used their team's business relationships, sector knowledge, and operations expertise to help ONE grow efficiently and scale its manufacturing ecosystem here in Michigan."

Amidst a declining global venture market, which saw only 16 first-time funds secure new capital in Q1 2023 in the U.S. compared to 181 in 2022 and 363 in 2021*, the closure of this fund further underscores the Assembly team's resilience. Despite weaker global economic growth, investors' appetites for unique mobility technologies continue to grow, validating the firm's investment strategy.

Assembly's investors include strategic corporates such as Arbor Bancorp Inc., CRONIMET, MANN+HUMMEL, Renaissance Global Logistics, Stellantis Ventures, Vontier, and WF Whelan, and a long list of individual investors in the U.S. and Europe including Wolfgang Bernhart, Matt Cullen, Calvin Ford, Dan Gilbert (DVP), Philipp von Hagen, Joe Hinrichs, Karl Iagnemma, Jody Kelman, Tim Lalonde, Kathleen Ligocki, John Moavenzadeh, Stephen Polk, Tony Posawatz and Dug Song. Additional leading strategic entities, a pension fund, and individuals with deep expertise in automotive, mobility, energy and infrastructure are also part of Assembly's investor base.