FGV Capital merges venture and advisory arms, raises $35M Fund II

Fiat Ventures said Tuesday it is combining its growth-consultancy and venture divisions under a new brand, FGV Capital, alongside the launch of a $35 million second fund. The fintech-focused firm’s general partners, Marcos Fernandez and Drew Glover, told TechCrunch the move was meant to help founders — whether in the firm’s portfolio or not — with go-to-market strategy.

The consultancy business, formerly operating as Fiat Growth, offered startups help with scaling and go-to-market work, plus access to a network of industry executives. Glover said combining that consultancy with the venture firm has already helped FGV win spots on startups’ cap tables, since founders realize they can tap the advisory network too if they take FGV’s money. He stressed the consultancy and the investment vehicle will operate as separate entities, with “clear processes” in place to keep business relationships from biasing investment decisions. “The goal is to use the broader FGV infrastructure to give our investment team better information and deeper context, not influence the outcome,” Glover said.

Fund II’s thesis centers on fintech’s intersection with AI, healthcare, commerce, and other industries. It took FGV about 18 months to raise, and the partners said they sought LPs who “could do more than provide capital,” including business guidance for portfolio companies. LPs in the new fund include the Reinsurance Group of America, MassMutual, and Bank of America.

The fund will cut checks of $1 million to $1.5 million into at least 25 companies over two years — it has already backed 13. FGV previously raised a $25 million first fund and has backed around 40 companies overall, including pet insurance company Wagmo and consumer lending startup Possible Finance.

“The different parts of the ecosystem can create value for one another while still operating independently,” Fernandez said, describing how portfolio companies can become advisory clients, advisory clients can become investments, and LPs can become customers or partners across the portfolio.

Why it matters

In a venture environment where emerging fund managers struggle to attract LP attention, FGV is betting that pairing capital with hands-on advisory services can help it win both LPs and startups — and potentially deliver better returns than a standalone fund.