Money Moves: Zeal Capital is launching a $120M venture fund

Zeal Capital’s Fund II

DC’s inclusivity-concerned investment firm Zeal Capital Partners has new plans to kick off the summer.

According to a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing, Zeal is launching a $120 million venture capital fund. This move comes two years after Zeal opened its first fund. In 2021, the firm raised $62.1 million in an oversubscribed round to invest in early-stage fintech and future-of-work startups.

Founder Nasir Qadree declined to share more information about the new fund. Zeal’s May 11 SEC filing lists it as Zeal Capital Partners Fund II and has not yet raised the money.

For its first fund, Zeal invested only in early-stage companies and took board seats in each of the startups. Founders also had to sign a pledge to become or maintain a diverse management team and show that they offered a product or service to low-wealth communities and workers.

“The goal here is that we are building an investment-class institutional fund that’s laser-focused on investing in solutions that are directly tied to narrowing the wealth and skills gap by way of investing in financial technology and future of work products and services,” Qadree told Technical.ly in 2021.

TEDCO invests in Maryland’s RouteSpring

Maryland state-affiliated funding agency TEDCO just invested $500,000 into Bethesda’s Routespring, which helps businesses with traveling.

Using a large language model, Routespring helps with workforce and travel management for companies that can’t afford a credit card. So far, its customers include a major US airline and a wildlife firefighting organization. The investment was made through TEDCO’s Gap Investment Fund, which is part of its Seed Funds program.

“Regardless of what is happening in the world, some people will always need to travel — these are our truckers, our nurses, our airline pilots and our wildlife firefighters,” said Tarun Upaday, CEO and cofounder of Routespring, in a statement. “We use the next-generation AI to find the best way to get corporate crews to the right place at the right time at the right cost.”

MPOWER’s latest megaround

MPOWER Financing, the DC fintech company that helps students who can’t afford higher education, received a $150 million financing facility from Goldman Sachs.

With the funds, MPOWER will expand its loan offerings for international and DACA students. This round follows the $100 million the company raised in a 2021 equity round. At the time, CEO Manu Smadja told Technical.ly that there was plenty of growth room for MPOWER, which made up a tiny portion of student lenders.

“We see again that we’re a very, very small fraction of the overall market. We’re 0.3% of the available opportunity out there in international student lending,” Smadja said. “So we could grow 10x and still be only 3% of the market. That market is fast-growing and that market, in the way I’m defining it today, is fairly narrow. So we have a long way to go.”

Here’s who else is cashing in around DC:

• Bethesda data analytics company SAR closed on an undisclosed investment round. Anthem Management led the round.
• TEDCO also invested $200,000 into Rockville, Maryland’s Rise Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biotech company.
• Reston, Virginia’s Science Applications International Corp, better known as SAIC, sold its logistics and supply chain management business to ASRC Federal for $350 million.
• Alexandria, Virginia transportation tech company VSE will acquire California’s Desser Aerospace for $124 million. The deal is expected to close in the next 90 days.
• Consulting giant Accenture made a strategic investment in Arlington, Virginia data management platform Stardog. Terms of the deal were not released.
• Following a $50 million investment from late businessman Donald Costello, George Mason’s School of Business will now be known as the Donald G. Costello School of Business. The gift is the largest the university has ever received.
• According to White House data, President Joe Biden’s infrastructure package has put $2.6 billion so far towards projects in Maryland. The funding legislation was signed in November 2021.
• Alexandria SaaS accounting company HubSync raised an undisclosed Series A led by Nashville Capital Network. With the funds, the company will accelerate product development and plans for rapid growth.