VC Firm Raises $360M to Fund Health and Climate Startups

A venture capital firm is celebrating 12 years of betting on companies that make the world better, and its latest $360 million fund proves that doing good can also mean doing well financially.

Obvious Ventures, co-founded by Twitter's Evan Williams, just raised its fifth fund with a creative twist. The exact amount of $360,360,360 represents their "360-degree view" of investing in planetary health, human health, and economic health.

This isn't just clever branding. The firm has delivered real returns to investors from all of its funds while backing companies tackling serious challenges. Their early bet on satellite imagery company Planet Labs now has a market value of $8.5 billion, and their investment in Recursion Pharmaceuticals is worth over $2 billion.

The firm's newest investments show how innovation can address urgent problems. They backed Zanskar, a startup using AI to find geothermal energy sources that can power energy-hungry data centers. Last week, Zanskar announced a $115 million fundraise, validating the approach.

On the human health front, Obvious invested in Inceptive, an AI platform developing new molecules for medicine. The company was founded by one of the researchers who helped create the transformer technology behind today's generative AI revolution.

They're also funding Dexterity Robotics, valued at $1.65 billion, which builds robots to handle dangerous warehouse and factory jobs that put human workers at risk. These aren't jobs disappearing but rather risky tasks being automated to protect people.

Why This Inspires

In an industry where only 17% of venture capital firms successfully raise more than three funds, Obvious Ventures reaching fund five signals something important. Investors are proving that companies focused on solving real problems can generate strong financial returns alongside positive impact.

The firm plans to invest in about 10 startups each year, writing checks between $5 million and $12 million for early-stage companies. Each investment targets solutions that address climate change, improve human wellbeing, or create economic opportunity.

Their philosophy keeps fund sizes deliberately small so a single successful company could return the entire fund, ensuring they stay focused on quality over quantity. This approach has already worked with multiple companies reaching billion-dollar valuations or successful public market exits.

Twelve years in, Obvious Ventures shows that the future of investing might look a lot more optimistic than we thought.