Bison Ventures Said to Raise $160M for Second Frontier Tech Fund

By Amara Osei

Bison Ventures has reportedly raised $160 million for its second venture capital fund, roughly 19% more than its debut vehicle, AltAssets Private Equity News reported. AltAssets described the fund as a frontier technology vehicle.

What changed at Bison?

The reported amount makes the second vehicle larger than Bison’s debut by commitments. The available report did not specify a closing date, original target, fee structure or investor list. That leaves $160 million and a 19% increase as the two disclosed measures of the step-up.

AltAssets did not establish whether the $160 million remains open to additional commitments or whether further closing details will follow. The reported total therefore remains short of a fully documented final close.

How large are the peer fundraising efforts?

Vintage Investment Partners raised $920 million across its venture fund-of-funds and secondaries strategies, AltAssets reported. The Tel Aviv-based manager’s assets under management rose above $4.8 billion after the fundraising.

Ascertis Credit secured more than $700 million in commitments for its fourth private credit fund, according to AltAssets. The Singapore-based manager surpassed the $600 million raised by its predecessor and continued fundraising toward a $1 billion target. The new commitments are at least $100 million above the predecessor’s total and have passed 70% of the stated target.

Vintage’s $920 million spans two strategies. Ascertis’s commitments sit in a single fourth private credit fund.

What does Preqin expect by 2031?

Preqin forecasts global private equity assets under management will almost double to $12 trillion by the end of 2031. Its research also projects private credit will surpass $5 trillion and become one of the fastest-growing major alternative investment classes, AltAssets reported.

Partners Group raised $875 million through two rated feeder vehicles for its evergreen private credit strategy this year, AltAssets reported. A second closing secured $510 million from U.S. insurance companies. That close represented more than half of the $875 million raised through the two feeder vehicles.

Which managers reached their fundraising benchmarks?

GEM completed fundraising for GEM Independent Sponsors Fund II, LP at its hard cap, securing $685 million in total commitments, AltAssets reported. The final raise equaled the fund’s maximum rather than stopping below it.

Pantheon closed its eighth secondaries fund with a $6 billion capital pool, according to AltAssets. It beat its initial $3 billion target by 71%, leaving the pool $3 billion above plan. AltAssets referred to the vehicle as the “Pantheon Global Secondaries Fund…,” with the available text ending there.

Who joined Miras, and who bought EarthLink?

Miras Investments named Matthew Lesesky its new global head of private equity, AltAssets reported. AltAssets described Lesesky as a seasoned endowment investor joining the investment team.

Trive Capital announced that it had closed the sale of EarthLink to a family office consortium, according to AltAssets. The buyer group included WaveDivision Capital and an entity identified only as “The Pritzker…” because the available excerpt cuts off the name. AltAssets did not disclose the transaction value in the excerpt.

What are the next checkpoints?

Ascertis’s pursuit of the $1 billion target is the nearest fundraising milestone in AltAssets’ compilation. For the wider market, Preqin’s forecasts call for global private equity AUM to nearly double to $12 trillion by the end of 2031 and private credit to exceed $5 trillion.

The announced vehicles show capital moving toward those forecasts through hard-cap funds, evergreen feeders, secondaries pools and frontier technology funds. Any fuller Bison update would need to supply the closing details and investor roster missing from the reported account.