Investor profile
Fontinalis Partners
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Fontinalis Partners is a Detroit- and Boston-based venture capital firm founded in 2009 that invests in early-stage startups on the new frontiers of mobility, industrial innovation, and energy. The firm defines its mandate broadly as 'technologies that enable the efficient movement of things,' intentionally omitting terms like 'automotive' or 'road-based' to avoid being self-limiting. As Chris Stallman wrote at the Fund III close: 'we consider ourselves a mobility fund focused on enabling efficient movement; but to do this most effectively, it also means that we are B2B SaaS investors, climate tech investors, fintech investors, consumer mobile investors, and deep tech investors.' Fontinalis partners as early as possible with ambitious founders who see around the curve, bringing a network of strategic LPs—including corporates in automotive and insurance—who can serve as key customers and partners for portfolio companies.
Notable quotes
“We have a number of LPs in this fund that have a pretty considerable appetite for co-investment opportunities, so there's a lot of flexibility for us to scale up through them.”
“Many of these parties could be key customers that startups are looking to access, but also simply be their partners.”
“Since Fontinalis was launched in 2009, we have consistently looked to the horizon — not for what mobility is now, but with an open mind for what it could be. We have a broad aperture — touching both 'obvious' mobility companies directly impacting efficient movement, as well as enabling technologies that may be less obviously mobility companies on their surface but which we see as foundational pieces for advancing mobility going forward.”
Recent investments
| Company | Round | Size | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tomorrow.io | Series F | — | 2026-02-03 |
| VulcanForms | Series D | $220m | 2026-01-30 |
| zeroRISC | Venture | — | 2025-06-11 |
| Etched | Series A | $120m | 2024-06-25 |
| Hgen | Seed | $5m | 2024-09-17 |
| Lyft | Early Stage VC | — | — |
| Postmates | Early Stage VC | — | — |
| Ouster | Early Stage VC | — | — |
| nuTonomy | Early Stage VC | — | — |
| Life360 | Early Stage VC | — | — |
Frequent co-investors
| VC firm | Deals together |
|---|---|
| BMW i Ventures | 4 |
| Eclipse Ventures | 3 |
| First Round Capital | 3 |
| 1789 Capital | 2 |
| Vision Ridge Partners | 2 |
| IEQ Capital | 2 |
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