Investor profile
Cottonwood Technology Fund
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Cottonwood Technology Fund is an early-stage deep tech venture capital fund focused on 'hard science and deep tech,' providing (pre-)seed and early-stage funding to IP-driven, patent-based B2B companies. Its key enabling technology areas include Photonics/Optics, Quantum, Micro- & Nanoelectronics, Advanced Materials, Nanotechnology, Sensor Technology, Health Sciences, Climatetech/Energy Transition, Advanced Manufacturing, and Robotics. Cottonwood explicitly does not invest in Consumer Products, Software, AI, Platforms, Apps, Crypto, or Pharma/Drug Development. Geographically, Cottonwood focuses on the Southwest USA (NM, AZ, UT, CO, TX) and Northwest Europe (primarily the Netherlands and Germany), regions rich in national laboratories, research universities, and research centers that are underserved by traditional venture capital. Fund IV targets $80 million to back a diversified portfolio of early-stage, IP-driven startups with the potential to establish new global industry standards. As Dave Blivin notes, 'The shift of traditional venture firms to software technologies over the last 15 years leaves a large gap for hard tech support, particularly at the earliest stages.'
Notable quotes
“The shift of traditional venture firms to software technologies over the last 15 years leaves a large gap for hard tech support, particularly at the earliest stages. Yet this is where the greatest opportunity lies for long term disruptive impact. These companies take longer to grow and exit so we appreciate the patient support of our current investors.”
“There is equally disruptive innovation in northwest Europe with an even greater need for seed stage capital than the US. More than 10 years after opening our office in the Netherlands, we see strong advantages of a venture capital fund active on two continents. We bring technologies from the United States to Europe and vice versa.”
“Part of our thesis is we invest in companies where the industry would say something like 'not possible', 'bullshit', 'can't be done' or 'this problem exists already for 30 years, and no one could find a solution'. Most of our companies have no direct competition; sometimes substitutes but often the only ones with a unique technology.”
Team
Lee Rand
Partner
Patrick Claessen
Partner
Shinjan Dasgupta
Senior Technology Analyst
Ytsen van der Meer
Principal
Recent investments
| Company | Round | Size | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Orange Quantum Systems | Seed | $13m | 2024-06-12 |
| Keiron Printing Technologies | Seed | $11m | 2025-08-22 |
| Sencure | Seed | $4m | 2025-03-03 |
| Q*Bird | Seed | — | 2024-01-01 |
| BayoTech | Series B | $157m | 2021-01-06 |
| Infinitum Electric | Series B | $13m | 2019-12-05 |
| Sarcos Robotics | Series B+ | — | 2020-01-01 |
| TriLumina | Series A | $9m | 2019-01-01 |
| Armonica Technologies | Series B | $2m | 2021-10-18 |
| Green Theme Technologies | Seed | — | 2022-01-01 |
Frequent co-investors
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