B Capital Unveils $500 Million Early-Stage Fund as Startup Valuations Soar

B Capital closed its third early-stage venture fund, Ascent Fund III, at a hard cap of $500 million in aggregate capital commitments. The Wall Street Journal reported the close on June 30. The fund was oversubscribed and nearly doubled the size of its predecessor, B Capital Ascent Fund II, which closed in July 2022 with $254 million in capital commitments. The fund will invest primarily in Seed, Series A and Series B rounds of companies developing next-generation technologies across healthcare, enterprise, energy and the next frontier, with a focus on key innovation hubs in North America and Asia. B Capital said AI is driving a new wave of innovation across every sector of the economy. Ascent Fund III has already invested in more than 20 high-conviction companies across AI infrastructure, robotics, healthcare and frontier technologies. Companies including Apptronik, Havoc AI and Star Catcher have raised substantial follow-on financings since the initial investments. The close follows strong support from both existing and new investors.