In 2019, Norwest partner Lisa Wu showed up at an L.A. restaurant to meet Ritual CEO and founder Kat Schneider. At the time, Schneider was running her company—and she was pregnant.
And Wu showed up, flying in with gifts for Schneider’s soon-to-be baby.
“I remember so vividly sitting at this Japanese restaurant, and she completely understood how I was working to manage both things,” said Schneider. “Having known me since 2016 as a seed investor, she was there for me, not as a nagging parent, but as someone who cared about the whole me.”
Schneider is still moved by the gesture even now, and I was too, listening to her recount this story about working with Wu and Norwest Venture Partners. Truthfully, it’s not the kind of story I was expecting to hear as I looked at the firm, which over its long history has expanded substantially—after all, it’s hard to retain a personal touch when you’re in growth mode.
Now, Norwest has closed its seventeenth fund at $3 billion, Fortune has exclusively learned, setting the stage for yet another chapter in one of the VC industry’s longest-running stories.
The firm as we know it was founded in 1961. But it has its deepest roots even further back than that, in the Norwest Corporation, a Minneapolis-based banking conglomerate that rose to prominence during the Great Depression. Norwest would ultimately merge with Wells Fargo in 1998, and the bank has been the firm’s primary LP ever since.
Norwest’s story seems to be one of a slow, deliberate expansion—and it could have flopped.
But somehow Norwest has grown into a firm that’s multi-stage and multi-sector. And at a time when many firms are cutting ties with their international outposts, Norwest promotes a distinctly international identity, with a big presence in India. “Even the managing partners, none of them think of India as somewhere out there, in the back of your mind,” Niren Shah, managing director and head of Norwest India, tells me.
New threads of the business have been built up over time. Norwest launched a biotech vertical in 2010, bringing on Dr. Tiba Aynechi in 2022 as general partner to oversee what is now a sort of diversified business-within-the-business. The firm’s growth equity business got off the ground in 2009 when Jon Kossow, the managing partner and co-head of the growth equity team, joined. That portfolio includes CoreLogic, Vuori, Dairy Queen, and Kendra Scott. And many of those deals originated with one of my personal favorite dying arts—a thoughtful cold call, followed up with the long game.
“Cold calling will probably be the most important skill you can develop in your life,” he said. “But we’re very patient people, which I think is also really important for the long term-minded.”
How do all these pieces fit together?
The firm seems committed to proving that scale is not necessarily at odds with an individualized touch. Even as times have changed and the firm’s focus has widened, it’s stayed true to that tune.
In another era, Neil Young was celebrated for his ability to make a stadium feel like a living room. Today, you could say the same of Taylor Swift, whose intimacy with her massive audience is undeniable. Norwest’s history spans the time between Swift and Young and, in a way, I think Norwest is trying to do the same thing—make something increasingly expansive feel close.
Asking Andy…In this week’s Ask Andy column, founding CEO of Bonobos and Pie Andy Dunn sounds off on what it means to juggle ambition with family life. His advice: “If you have to choose between a startup and your family, pick your family. Your kids will leave one day, your ambition will not.” Read the whole column here.
See you tomorrow,
Allie Garfinkle
Twitter: @agarfinks
Email: alexandra.garfinkle@fortune.com
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Joe Abrams curated the deals section of today’s newsletter.
VENTURE DEALS
– Endeavor BioMedicines, a San Diego, Calif.-based drug developer that is currently developing a drug for pulmonary fibrosis, raised $132.5 million in Series C funding. AyurMaya led the round and was joined by Fidelity Management & Research Company, Invus, SymBiosis, Velocity Capital, Woodline Partners, and others.
– ThreatLocker, an Orlando, Fla.-based cybersecurity company developing tools to protect servers and endpoints, raised $115 million in Series D funding. General Atlantic led the round and was joined by StepStone Group and the D.E. Shaw.
– MARKT-PILOT, an Esslingen, Germany-based developer of pricing software for machine manufacturers, raised $43 million in Series A funding. Insight Partners led the round and was joined by existing investor Capnamic.
– FlexAI, a Paris, France-based AI compute company, raised $30 million in seed funding. Alpha Intelligence Capital, Elaia Partners, and Heartcore Capital led the round and were joined by Bpifrance, Frst Capital, and others.
– Nooks, a San Francisco-based AI dialing and prospecting platform for sales teams, raised $22 million in Series A funding. Lachy Groom led the round and was joined by Tola Capital and Stifel Venture Banking.
– Chemix, a Sunnyvale, Calif.-based developer of AI-designed electric vehicle batteries, raised $20 million in Series A funding. Ibex Investors led the round and was joined by Mayfield Fund, Berkeley SkyDeck, Urban Innovation Fund, and others.
– Sublime Security, a Washington, D.C.-based cloud email security platform, raised $20 million in Series A funding. Index Ventures led the round and was joined by Decibel Partners and Slow Ventures.
– Dropzone AI, a Seattle, Wash.-based developer of AI security analysts for security operations teams, raised $16.9 million in Series A funding. Theory Ventures led the round and was joined by existing investors Decibel Partners, Pioneer Square Ventures, In-Q-Tel, and others.
– Log10, a San Francisco-based platform designed to make LLMs faster and more accurate, raised $7.2 million in seed funding. TQ Ventures and Quiet Capital led the round and were joined by Essence Venture Capital.
– Accacia, a Singapore-based decarbonization platform for the real estate and infrastructure sectors, raised $6.5 million in pre-Series A funding. Illuminate Financial led the round and was joined by AC Ventures and existing investors Accel and B Capital.
– Anon, a San Francisco-based platform where developers can implement automated authentication for AI agents, raised $6.5 million across pre-seed and seed rounds. The pre-seed round was led by Impatient Ventures and ex/ante and the seed round was led by USV and Abstract Ventures, along with angel investors.
– KEY, a Wilmington, Del.-based all-natural energy drink company, raised $4 million in seed funding. AgFunder led the round and was joined by Alethla and SIJ Impact Fund.
– Camion, a London, U.K.-based intelligence and analytics platform for power and electric vehicle charging, raised €2.7 million ($2.9 million) in pre-seed funding. EQT Ventures led the round and was joined by First Look Capital, RitMir Ventures, and Chris Adelsbach.
– Diddo, a Santa Monica, Calif.-based developer of infrastructure that allows streaming service watchers to shop for the products featured real-time in the episodes they’re watching, raised $2.8 million in seed funding. Link Ventures led the round and was joined by Neo and others.
– Handl Health, a Los Angeles, Calif.-based AI-powered platform that compares health care pricing data to help benefits consultants design and manage health plans, raised $2.5 million in seed funding. Mucker Capital and Everywhere VC led the round and was joined by Tau Ventures, Riverfront Ventures, Digital Health Venture Partners, Boutique Venture Partners, Plug and Play Ventures, and Techstars.
– Trace, a Columbus, Ohio-based platform designed for quickly creating location-based augmented reality spaces quickly, raised $2 million in pre-seed funding. Rev1 Ventures and Impellent Ventures led the round and were joined by Everywhere Ventures, Ohio Innovation Fund, Portland Seed Fund, Allied Venture Partners, Service Provider Capital, and others.
PRIVATE EQUITY
– Periphas Capital, supported by Lavelle Capital, led a minority investment in FinQuery, an Atlanta, Ga.-based spend visibility platform for companies, for $25 million.
– AMBOSS, backed by Prettybrook Partners, acquired NEJM Knowledge+, a Boston, Mass.-based learning and assessment tool for clinicians. Financial terms were not disclosed.
– Granite Creek Capital Partners acquired a minority stake in The District Communications Group, a Washington, D.C.-based communications firm. Financial terms were not disclosed.
– KnowBe4, backed by Vista Equity Partners, agreed to acquire Egress, a London, U.K.-based provider of integrated cloud email security. Financial terms were not disclosed.
– Lightyear Capital transferred ownership of its portfolio company ampliFI Loyalty Solutions, a Naperville, Ill.-based financial services company, to a single-asset continuation fund. Lightyear Capital will continue to manage the company through the continuation fund, which saw investments from Neuberger Berman and others.
– Sigma Defense Systems, a portfolio company of Sagewind Capital, acquired EWA, a Herndon, Va.-based developer of electronic warfare technologies. Financial terms were not disclosed.
EXITS
– Kotak Mahindra Bank acquired Sonata, an Uttar Pradesh, India.-based microfinance company designed to provide women and the underprivileged with access to capital, from Investments Capital Management. Financial terms were not disclosed.
OTHER
– Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) agreed to acquire Run:ai, a Tel Aviv, Israel-based developer of GPU orchestration software. Financial terms were not disclosed.
FUNDS + FUNDS OF FUNDS
– Endicott Capital, a New York City-based private equity investment firm, raised $250 million for its second fund focused on making investments in information services companies.
