Zeal Capital Partners announces close of $82M Fund II

Zeal Capital Partners announced on Wednesday the close of its second fund, raising $82 million. Limited partners in the fund include Citi Impact Fund, M&T Bank, Wells Fargo, and Spelman College. It hopes to invest in at least 25 early-stage companies, writing check sizes between $1 million and $2.3 million, with 50% of the fund reserved for follow-on investments. Speaking to TechCrunch, Nasir Qadree, founder and managing partner of Zeal, said Fund II will focus on financial technology, healthcare, and future of work, as its other fund did. It has already invested in at least five companies, including the maternal health platform Seven Starling and the fintech Debbie. Qadree described the funding environment for Fund II as “undoubtedly challenging” because of macroeconomic uncertainty, LP rebalancing, and tighter allocation windows. “But these headwinds also sharpened our strategy and reaffirmed the strength of our approach,” Qadree said. “I’m proud to share that over 80% of our limi ... Read full article.