Zeal Capital Partners Grows to $186M With Close of $82M Fund

Zeal Capital Partners, a venture firm that focuses on diverse founders, has secured $82 million for its second fund following a two-year fundraising period.

Zeal’s limited partners include Citi Impact Fund, M&T Bank, MassMutual, Wells Fargo, Zaffre Investments, and Spelman College. Its general partners include Scott Sandell, Executive Chairman and Chief Investment Officer at NEA, and Jason Green, Founder and General Partner (Emeritus) of Emergence.

This milestone brings Zeal’s total assets under management (AUM) to $186 million across three funds, signalling growing confidence in its inclusive investing approach and category-specific strategy.

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Zeal Capital is Tackling Systemic Challenges

Zeal Capital, founded in 2020 by Nasir Qadree, has established itself as a leading early-stage, category-specific investment platform. The venture capital firm focuses on the intersection of financial technology, healthcare, and the future of learning and work.

“The systems-level challenges that have long felt insurmountable — including access to education, economic mobility, financial health, and healthcare — are now among the largest and most urgent market opportunities,” said Nasir Qadree, Founder and Managing Partner, in a press release seen by UrbanGeekz. 

The leading Washington, D.C.-based venture capital firm’s thesis is rooted in a belief that tackling systemic challenges like access to healthcare, financial inclusion, and workforce development can produce both strong returns and scalable impact.

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An Impressive List of Investors

The close of Zeal Fund II marks a significant expansion of the firm’s institutional investor base. Zeal Capital Partners’ limited partners now include Citi Impact Fund, M&T Bank, MassMutual, Wells Fargo, Zaffre Investments, and Spelman College. 

The milestone aligns with leading financial institutions, university endowments, pension funds, healthcare, and insurance companies. Furthermore, there were general partners from some of the most respected venture capital firms, including Scott Sandell, Executive Chairman & Chief Investment Officer at NEA, and Jason Green, Founder & General Partner (Emeritus) of Emergence. 

Notably, almost 80% of Zeal’s Fund I investors—including Capricorn Investment Group and Hampton University— continued their investment partnership in Zeal Fund II.

Related Post: Zeal Capital Announces Stefanie Thomas-Martin as Partner After She Led $50M Fund

How Zeal’s Fund II Will Be Deployed

Zeal Fund II will invest in approximately 25 early-stage companies over a four-year investment period, with a strategy designed to lead or co-lead seed-stage financings. The goal is to target initial check sizes between $1 million and $2.3 million, with the option to serve on the Board of Directors to support portfolio companies’ growth. 

In addition, Zeal Fund II will reserve 50% of its committed capital for follow-on investments. This will ensure the firm can keep backing its highest-performing companies through subsequent stages of scale.

Across its funds, Zeal Capital Partners has backed more than 40 companies led by management teams reimagining the building blocks of wealth, health, learning, and work. Zeal Fund II has invested in five companies, including Seven Starling, a maternal mental health platform, and Debbie, an innovative B2B fintech company focused on rewarding savings, debt repayment, and other positive financial behaviors. Zeal also led the $8 million Series A in Rising Team to scale leadership development and team performance in the modern workplace.

The Zeal Capital Partners team, from left to right, includes Richard Odior, Emily Zhen, Nasir Qadree, Stefanie Thomas Martin, Susannah Burrage, Tom Muscarella and Bianca Phillip. Photographer credit: Angelica and Jacob Tellez