Overlap Holdings Launches Flagship Fund, Bringing a Novel, Capital-First Approach to Frontier Tech

Led by Wall Street veteran Justin Stevens, the fund guides startups solving the world's biggest problems through their funding journey

NEW YORK, Feb. 5, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Overlap Holdings, a venture capital firm harnessing elements of Wall Street and Silicon Valley, today announced the final close of its first fund, Overlap Holdings Flagship Fund 1 (OHF1). The inaugural fund of $33 million will exclusively invest in early-stage (Seed through Series B) startups building technologies at the intersection of scientific innovation and hardware. The firm invests in frontier tech sectors such as Energy, Life Science, Materials Science, Space, Robotics, and Semiconductors.

Justin Stevens, a former Senior Partner at Apollo Global Management who spent nearly two decades in private equity, founded Overlap Holdings after observing the value his Wall Street wisdom and connections brought to startups struggling through their funding journeys. Frontier tech companies, in particular, require creative financing to bridge the "valleys of death" inherent to early development stages. Their capital intensity is a major reason venture investors have flocked to software over frontier tech — a trend that Stevens believes has had a detrimental effect on society as a whole.

"The mission of Overlap Holdings is to refocus venture on solving world-scale problems," said Stevens. "Too often, frontier tech founders struggle not because they lack great ideas but because they lack access to the right type of capital, at the right time. The strategy for funding a startup's entire capital journey is as important as the technology it creates. We believe that Overlap Holdings is the only frontier tech venture firm focused first and foremost on this capital journey."

The fund, OHF1, sits at the heart of the firm's integrated model, which combines equity investments with introductions to non-dilutive funding sources (primarily debt). Frontier tech companies often rely on such capital to build a factory, finance a first-of-a-kind project, or scale their business more efficiently than with equity alone. The firm's team includes Chief Operating Officer Rob Morelli, who ran a debt desk at UBS for a decade before founding his own startup, and Associate Gauri Jaswal, an experienced frontier tech investor previously with Conscience VC.

"Overlap Holdings is not a typical venture capital firm. While most firms focus on engineering or operations, we bring 30-plus years of financial structuring expertise to this capital-intensive ecosystem," said Morelli. "Whether funding a robotics breakthrough or securing a debt partner to advance a next-gen space company, we work tirelessly with founders to make their financing journeys easier."

The firm has invested in 11 promising frontier tech startups, including Impulse Space, Hadrian, Integrated Biosciences, Anthro Energy, and Mendaera. It targets 30–35 total investments for OHF1, with average investments of approximately $700,000. The team leverages a deep network of technical experts across their main focus industries to assist in their underwriting and drive further value for their portfolio companies. "The connectivity with these industry leaders can be transformative for a startup," said Jaswal. "This is part of Overlap's special sauce—our ability to blend investment insight, market intelligence, and relationship science to provide a differentiated process and support."

To Stevens, the best way to succeed in venture capital is to invest in companies solving the world's biggest problems. "Our key societal indicators of well-being tell a stark story: GDP growth is underwhelming, life expectancy is stagnant, and people are unhappy in record numbers," he said. "Venture capital should be a powerful force for true innovation. I founded Overlap Holdings to help make that happen."

To learn more about Overlap Holdings or get in touch, please visit www.overlapholdings.com.

About Overlap Holdings
Founded in 2022, Overlap Holdings is a venture capital firm that supports frontier tech startups through an integrated investing and connecting model by offering both equity and debt support throughout the startup journey. Overlap seeks to bridge the financing gap for companies creating true innovation in sectors such as Energy, Life Science, Materials Science, Space, Robotics, and Semiconductors.

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SOURCE Overlap Holdings