The latest in funds and investment news from across North America.

Thayer Ventures
Thayer Ventures, a San Francisco-based VC firm concentrating on technology innovation in travel and transportation, raised $80 million to invest in new start-ups in the $10 trillion global travel and transportation industries that are being upended by COVID-19. 

Limited partners in the new fund include strategic investors, family offices, sovereign wealth funds and other institutional capital, Thayer Ventures said in a statement. 

"With this unprecedented period of global change and dislocation, we believe macro-disruptions, including the current COVID-19 environment, will be catalytic towards the pace of innovation and further underscore our long-term investment thesis,” Chris Hemmeter, managing director at Thayer Ventures, said. 

“Disruptions across the value-chain, when combined with shifting consumer behavior patterns, accelerate the displacement of long-term incumbent technology providers and promote adoption of more flexible models across industries,” he said. 

Investments that Thayer Ventures' Fund III have already made include cross-industry connectivity platform Beekeeper, commercial cleaning robotics innovator Dishcraft Robotics, mobility pioneer May Mobility, and hotel management disruptor Lifehouse.