B Capital closes $500m early-stage fund, earmarks 20% for Asia

B Capital, the US investment firm co-founded by Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin, has raised US$500 million in capital for the final close of its Ascend Fund III, the firm announced today. The new fund will invest in sectors such as healthcare, enterprise, energy, and the next frontier, and it will target firms across North America and Asia.

About 20% of the fund will be deployed in Asia, B Capital chair and general partner Howard Morgan told Tech in Asia in an interview ahead of the announcement. Within the region, B Capital sees the strongest opportunities in Singapore and India, though it will “occasionally” evaluate potential deals in Indonesia.

(From left) B Capital co-founder and co-CEO Eduardo Saverin, general partner Karan Mohla, and chair and general partner Howard Morgan / Photo credit: B Capital

The fund is nearly twice the size of Ascend Fund II, which was B Capital’s first vehicle dedicated to early-stage investments.

Fund III will invest primarily in seed and series A companies, with about 10% of the capital reserved for series B investments. On average, the firm expects to write checks of about US$2 million for seed companies and US$10 million for series A ones.

Within its focus sectors, B Capital plans to allocate around 20% to 25% to healthcare, 30% to deeptech companies, and about 25% to enterprise software and AI, with the remainder reserved for other verticals.

Backing frontier tech

Founded in 2015, B Capital has more than US$12 billion in assets under management across multiple funds.

The firm doesn’t intend to invest in companies building large language models, which Morgan said have become “too expensive.” Instead, it is targeting AI-related startups in areas such as spacetech, robotics, and quantum computing, as well as those developing world models and unmanned surface vehicles.

According to Morgan, Fund III is not an AI-focused fund, but AI will underpin much of its investment strategy given its emphasis on the deeptech sector.

“We don’t talk to an entrepreneur without asking, ‘How are you using AI in your business?’ It’s pretty critical for us,” he said.

The fund will invest in frontier technology companies that have longer development cycles, taking three to five years before generating revenue.

Fund III has already backed 20 firms across AI infrastructure, robotics, healthcare, and frontier technologies.

One of its investees is Apptronik, which develops humanoid robots used in logistics and fulfillment. A series A funding round in January valued the firm at US$5.5 billion.

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