Assembly Ventures, a venture capital group founded by Detroit and Berlin investors, said Wednesday it has closed fundraising its inaugural $76 million from the likes of Rocket Mortgage founder Dan Gilbert to Jeep maker Stellantis NV to invest in mobility sector innovations.
The group founded in 2020 is the brain child of mobility operators Chris Thomas and Jessica Robinson, who previously founded the Detroit Mobility Lab and the Michigan Mobility Institute together, and Felix Scheuffelen, a Germany-based investor who co-founded Beyond1435, an innovation platform. The Assembly has $94 million total assets under management.
The initial fund is focused on early investment rounds — series seed A and B — and entrepreneurs driving transformation across land, air, sea and space in the United States and Europe. It’s especially interested in battery technology, clean energy solutions, climate tech, supply chain optimization and automotive production, encouraged by public policy agendas, according to a news release.
“We believe that the world is on the cusp of a new geopolitical era where the West will increasingly choose to de-risk its heavy reliance on China,” Thomas said in a statement. “In the coming decades, we anticipate a radical reshaping of economies, especially in automotive and mobility technology across air, land, sea and space, along with their respective supply chains.
“We look at the world through this lens to anticipate and identify which technologies are critical, unique, and capable of generating exceptional value for our investors. By strategically investing in these technologies, and helping our portfolio companies to scale, we aim to play a pivotal role in moving the world towards efficiency, sustainability, growth, and freedom.”
Among Assembly’s investors are Arbor Bancorp Inc., Cronimet Holding GmbH, Mann+Hummel, Renaissance Global Logistics, Stellantis Ventures, Vontier, WF Whelan and a pension fund, UA Local 467 Defined Benefit Plan. Individual investors include Gilbert through his Detroit Venture Partners; Joe Hinrichs, CEO of rail company CSX Corp.; Kirk Steudle, former director of the Michigan Department of Transportation; Nancy Tellem, executive chair and chief media officer of media company Eko; Michael Dunne, founder of consulting firm ZoZoGo LLC; and more.
The Assembly has worked with thought leaders in Detroit, Silicon Valley and Berlin, and is working on opening an office in the German capital to advise on European investment.
It already has invested in Metropolis Technologies, a mobile platform that enables immediate payment for parking; Navit, corporate carbon tracking software; Our Next Energy, a Novi-based electric-vehicle battery manufacturer; and Sortera, which applies artificial intelligence to the recycling industry.
The Assembly will hold a summit at the Association of the German Automotive Industry’s IAA Mobility show in September after holding a similar summit last year at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit.
bnoble@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @BreanaCNoble