Moderne Ventures
401 N. Michigan Ave. Suite 1900, Chicago, IL, 60611, United States
Overview
Moderne Ventures is a strategic venture capital and growth equity firm with a 16-year track record, generating top tier returns across four funds. Moderne is a generalist investor with vertical expertise with a particular focus on technologies like Enterprise SaaS, AI, Robotics, Deep Tech, Sustainability, Data and Digital Transaction Management and targets technologies that can apply to both Moderne’s core industries and expand beyond them to deliver outsized venture returns.
- Total investments
- 35
- Lead investments
- 9
- Investments · 12mo
- 2
- Active investors
- 5
Sector focus
- Business Development
- Finance
- Financial Services
- FinTech
- Insurance
- Real Estate
- Sustainability
- Venture Capital
Investment portfolio
- Sigma360
Led · Series B · Mar 2026
Sigma360 offers an enterprise-grade platform that unifies global risk data, proprietary intelligence, screening technology, and AI automation to help financial institutions detect and prevent financial crime in real time. The solution supports point-in-time screening and perpetual client monitoring, reducing false positives and easing compliance burdens for banks, payment providers, fintechs, and other regulated corporations. Over the past two years the company achieved 5× revenue growth, reached profitability in 2025, and posts 140%+ Net Revenue Retention with 95% Gross Revenue Retention. Its technology now safeguards more than $2 trillion in assets and processes billions of dollars in transaction value each month. Recognitions include being named Chartis Research’s #1 adverse media screening platform in both 2025 and 2026 and a KYC quadrant leader in 2025. Future plans for the newly raised funds center on enriching proprietary risk datasets, deepening AI automation, and expanding global go-to-market efforts across regulated financial sectors. The company is headquartered in New York and was founded by former U.S. Treasury and National Counterterrorism Center official Stuart Jones, Jr.
- Mesh
Participated · Series C · Jan 2026
Founded in 2020 and based in San Francisco, Mesh operates a crypto payments and settlement layer—branded SmartFunding—that routes payments across wallets, chains and assets so merchants receive instant stablecoins or local currency. The company reports reaching 900 million users through integrations with exchanges, wallets and financial platforms and counts partners such as Ripple, Paxos and Rain; it added support for Ripple’s dollar stablecoin and an integration with Apple Pay. Financially, Mesh had raised over $200 million prior to the reported round, including a $82 million Series B in March 2025 and a $75 million Series C on January 27, 2026 that brought it to a $1.0 billion valuation. Axios reports Binance is preparing to lead a new financing that could value Mesh at up to $2.0 billion, a move described as strategically focused on payments infrastructure rather than token trading. When announcing its Series C, Mesh said it would deploy capital to expand in Latin America, Asia and Europe, with India highlighted as a priority market.
- Trust & Will
Led · Series C · Mar 2025
Trust & Will offers an online, attorney-approved estate-planning platform that helps users create wills, trusts, healthcare directives and other state-specific documents through a guided experience. The company serves more than one million individuals and families, supports 17,000+ financial advisors, 150+ enterprise partners, and reports $100+ billion in self-reported estate assets. Founded in 2017 and based in San Diego, Trust & Will emphasizes simple, secure integration with financial institutions. The business has expanded its credit union work from a single partnership in 2018 to more than 200 credit unions today and is forming a Credit Union Service Organization (CUSO) to deepen that integration. It has joined the National Association of Credit Union Service Organizations (NACUSO) as a Platinum Partner to accelerate industry partnerships and insights. The company announced a $4.5M investment from Curql as part of its Series C, which will support broader credit-union-focused distribution and enterprise integrations. Trust & Will provides a SaaS platform for accessible, attorney-approved estate planning, enabling users to create wills, trusts, and related documents tailored to state requirements. The company emphasizes integrations with financial advisors, attorneys, real estate professionals, member organizations, NPOs, and businesses to support multi-generational planning. It reports over one million Americans have started legacy planning on the platform. Trust & Will is investing in AI and data infrastructure to deliver personalized recommendations, analyze existing plans, and provide real-time updates. The platform maintains bank-level encryption and compliance with SOC 2 and HIPAA standards, is a certified B Corporation, and serves as the official estate planning provider for AARP members and other financial institutions. Founded in 2017 and headquartered in San Diego, the company aims to expand partnerships and embed estate planning into major life milestones like home or car purchases. Trust & Will provides an online platform for creating customizable estate plans and settling estates, with legal documents tailored to state and county guidelines. The company offers transactional purchases plus an annual membership for ongoing updates, and in October launched Trust & Will Probate to streamline probate and estate settlement. It partners with banks, credit unions, fintechs, insurtechs and nonprofits to educate members and offer discounts. Trust & Will reported that revenue more than doubled year‑over‑year and that its business has doubled annually since 2020, though specific revenue figures were not disclosed. The company crossed over 478,000 cumulative members at the end of January and is on track to exceed 500,000 this quarter. Leadership says the new capital will be used to scale operations, further integrate with financial institutions, and provide runway to achieve profitability with strong cash reserves. Trust & Will offers three primary products: a trust-based estate plan, a will-based estate plan, and "Guardian," a simpler setup for parents. Customers pay an upfront setup fee by product and a smaller recurring annual subscription. Since launching in mid-2018 the company says 160,000 users have signed up, and the team has grown to 24 employees. The company originally operated only in Nevada due to state digital-will laws but has expanded attorney support to multiple states and completed the first electronic will in Florida. Trust & Will has built partnerships with institutions including Fifth Third Bank, AARP, and Acorns. The startup has raised more than $23 million to date and has positioned itself to grow as more states put digital-will and estate-planning laws in place. Trust & Will offers a digital estate-planning platform that lets customers draft wills and trust-based plans, including tools to avoid probate and manage beneficiary instructions. The company sells tiered subscription plans priced roughly $399–$499 (plus annual fees) for trust-based plans, $69–$129 for beneficiary/asset-distribution plans, and $39–$49 for parents with minor children. Since launching in April, Trust & Will has enrolled 60,000 members representing $15.1 billion in total assets, $2.7 billion in reported life insurance policies, $137 million in charitable commitments, and with 88% of members holding real estate assets. The startup has formed partnerships to enable electronic closings (it closed its first electronic will in January with Notarize). With a team of 11 people, the company plans to use new capital to expand sales and marketing, advance product development, and grow partnerships. The product is positioned to capture demand as younger cohorts begin estate planning and to compete with legacy solutions like Quicken’s WillMaker and other startups.
- ICON
Participated · Series C · Feb 2025
ICON develops large-scale 3D printers and materials to construct homes and other structures, and launched its first permitted 3D‑printed house after debuting at SXSW in 2018. The company is focused on deploying Phoenix, a new line of multi‑story robotic 3D printers that use a low‑carbon building material and aim to put the technology into the hands of builders. ICON still designs and builds a selection of projects itself across residential, hospitality, social/affordable housing and Department of Defense work. Over the years the company says it has 3D‑printed nearly 200 homes and structures in the U.S. and Mexico. The startup has raised more than $500 million to date, recently underwent a workforce realignment that included letting go of 114 employees, and presently has about 200 employees. Former presidential candidate and Congressman Will Hurd, a prior investor, has joined ICON’s board. ICON develops and constructs homes using 3D printing technology. Its core product is 3D-printed houses. The article reports that ICON raised $185 million. The piece does not provide details on investors, the financing instrument, valuation, or terms. No operating metrics (revenue, user numbers, or number of homes built) are given in the article. Reader comments on the article noted that the cost of the homes was not stated. ICON is an Austin, Texas‑based construction technology company that builds 3D‑printed single‑family homes and larger structures using proprietary Vulcan printing systems, robotics and advanced materials. Its Vulcan technology is positioned to produce resilient, energy‑efficient homes faster and with less waste; the new Vulcan can print up to 3,000 sq ft and is reported to be 1.5x larger and 2x faster than the prior system. The company has delivered more than two dozen 3D‑printed homes and structures across the U.S. and Mexico, including projects for homeless and low‑income populations with partners such as New Story and Mobile Loaves & Fishes. ICON has expanded into mainstream housing (including homes for sale) and launched an Exploration Series (House Zero) optimized for 3D printing, and it is working with NASA on habitat projects including Mars Dune Alpha. The company reports roughly 400% year‑over‑year revenue growth nearly every year, has tripled its team to over 100 employees and expects to double headcount within the next year. ICON says it will use new funding to scale construction of 3D‑printed homes, accelerate R&D and advance its space‑based construction efforts. Icon develops advanced construction technologies centered on proprietary 3D-printing robotics, software and advanced materials. The company intends to use the new funds to expand its team across robotics, off-planet construction, materials science, software engineering, architecture, building science and operations. It will also accelerate development of its printers, create a variety of home types and designs, and enhance its core technology stack. The $35M Series A brings Icon’s total funding since launch to $44M. Icon previously announced $9M in seed funding in October 2018 led by Oakhouse Partners with participation from Cielo Property Group, D.R. Horton and Emaar, among others. Led by co-founder and CEO Jason Ballard and based in Austin, Texas, Icon has launched printers and printed a home (March 2018), introduced its Vulcan technology stack in 2019, and delivered projects in the U.S. and Mexico. In 2020 it delivered 3D-printed homes in Mexico with nonprofit New Story, completed homes for the chronically homeless in Austin with Mobile Loaves & Fishes, and partnered with the Defense Innovation Unit and U.S. Marine Corps on a field demonstration at Camp Pendleton; additional projects will be announced. ICON develops 3D‑printing robotics (the Vulcan printer), software and advanced materials to transform homebuilding. The company is focused on making affordable, dignified and sustainable housing available worldwide. In March 2018 ICON unveiled its first 3D‑printed home in Austin and secured a building permit. ICON plans to deliver strategic signature projects in the U.S. and abroad and to continue work with the nonprofit partner New Story. A second‑generation Vulcan printer is under development and slated for unveiling in 2019. The company is expanding its team with technical hires in robotics, advanced materials and software engineering.
- Aerwave
Led · Series B · Sep 2024
Aerwave is a next-generation managed WiFi platform that builds a connectivity foundation for multifamily residential buildings using fiber-based mesh networking and proprietary software. Its product delivers instant-on, gigabit-plus internet and pervasive, seamless WiFi across apartment homes, amenity spaces, and property management areas. Since forming in 2019, Aerwave has deployed across more than 34,000 apartment homes in 28 markets and established partnerships with three of the top five multifamily REIT portfolios and 18% of the NMHC top 50 owners. The company says it expects to continue to double its size in 2025. The recent strategic financing will be used to broaden its footprint and fund product development to advance the platform and support client growth. Aerwave emphasizes customer service from multifamily industry professionals and positions its network to enable smart-home features, self-guided tours, and improved WiFi calling coverage. Aerwave provides a multifamily residential connectivity platform that delivers an instantly-accessible, gigabit-plus internet amenity and reliable connectivity for smart home devices. The company supplies a 10 Gbps fiber backbone to apartment homes, property management teams, and amenity spaces while keeping data secure and encrypted. Aerwave partners with property owners and delivers a customer service experience from a team of multifamily industry professionals. Rental communities in more than 17 markets currently use Aerwave for constant Wi‑Fi connectivity. The company plans to grow into more than 30 total markets within the next 12 months. Aerwave recently raised $20M in a Series A to scale its operating platform and support that expansion.