Moderne Ventures
ActiveVenture Capital
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Financial History
Total Raised
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Leadership Team
Key people at Moderne Ventures.
Key people at Moderne Ventures.
Key people at Moderne Ventures.
Moderne Ventures is a strategic venture capital and growth equity firm that backs disruptive, multi-vertical technology companies with strong applicability across massive industries like real estate, finance, insurance, home services, and sustainability. Its mission is to accelerate innovation by tightly aligning startups with a powerful network of corporate leaders, turning early-stage promise into scalable, real-world impact. Moderne takes a generalist approach to technology investing, prioritizing best-in-class SaaS, AI, robotics, deep tech, data, and digital transaction platforms that can be deployed across multiple sectors.
The firm focuses on early- to growth-stage investments, typically in the U.S., with check sizes ranging from $100K to $10M. By combining capital with deep industry access—via its Moderne Network of over 1,500 corporate executives and its Moderne Passport immersion program—Moderne creates a unique value proposition: startups don’t just get funding, they gain curated access to customers, partners, and mentors from Fortune 500–caliber organizations. This model has made Moderne a key connector between emerging tech and incumbent industries undergoing digital transformation.
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Founded in 2015 and based in Chicago, Moderne Ventures was built on the insight that the most promising startups often struggle not with product, but with commercialization and enterprise adoption. Constance Freedman, the firm’s Founder and Managing Partner, recognized that corporate inertia and fragmented buyer landscapes—especially in complex, relationship-driven industries like real estate and insurance—were major bottlenecks for innovation. Rather than just writing checks, Moderne set out to build a firm that could actively de-risk and accelerate growth by embedding startups into the ecosystems of strategic industry players.
Over time, Moderne evolved from a proptech- and fintech-focused investor into a broader multi-vertical tech investor, while maintaining deep roots in real estate, finance, and insurance. The launch of the Moderne Passport program—a six-month industry immersion experience for portfolio companies—marked a turning point, formalizing the firm’s playbook of pairing capital with structured corporate access. With over $450 million in assets under management and a growing fund history, Moderne has established itself as a bridge between venture-backed innovation and large-scale industry adoption.
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Moderne Ventures sits at the intersection of two powerful trends: the digitization of traditionally analog, asset-heavy industries (real estate, insurance, construction, finance) and the rise of corporate venture as a strategic innovation lever. As these industries face pressure to modernize, they increasingly rely on external innovation—startups—rather than internal R&D. But startups, in turn, struggle with long sales cycles, complex compliance, and fragmented buyer landscapes. Moderne’s model directly addresses this gap.
By acting as a trusted intermediary, Moderne helps de-risk innovation for corporates while giving startups a faster path to revenue and validation. This is especially valuable in sectors where trust, regulation, and long-term relationships matter. The firm is also riding the wave of AI, automation, and data-driven decision-making, backing companies that enable smarter transactions, faster construction, better customer authorizations, and more intelligent business insights—all of which are becoming table stakes in modern enterprise.
In the broader ecosystem, Moderne is shaping how strategic venture capital can look beyond valuation and into real-world adoption. It’s helping define a new playbook where funds don’t just provide capital and advice, but also customers, use cases, and industry credibility.
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Moderne Ventures is well-positioned to deepen its role as a central node in the innovation networks of real estate, finance, and insurance. As more corporates double down on external innovation and startups demand more than just capital, Moderne’s network-powered model will likely become even more valuable. The firm’s ability to raise substantial funds and continuously refresh its Passport cohort suggests strong demand from both LPs and founders.
Looking ahead, Moderne is likely to expand its footprint beyond its current core verticals, leveraging its generalist tech thesis to capture emerging opportunities in sustainability, climate tech, and AI-native infrastructure. The firm may also formalize more vertical-specific programs or partnerships, while continuing to refine how it measures and scales the commercial impact of its network.
In a world where the next big thing often needs to be proven inside the old guard, Moderne’s bet is clear: the future of venture isn’t just about picking winners—it’s about connecting them to the right doors. And with its growing network and proven playbook, Moderne is building one of the most effective keys.
