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Vaughn Crowe’s nvp capital quietly closed an $80 million second fund and announced plans to back roughly 25 AI-focused enterprise software startups, writing checks of up to $3 million apiece to founders aiming to modernize under-digitized industries. This is the kind of private-sector grit America needs: patient capital, real-world product focus, and boots-on-the-ground support for startups that actually sell to customers.
Make no mistake — this is capitalism doing what it does best: turning ideas into jobs and profits without the sermonizing of bureaucrats or the hollow virtue-signaling of coastal elites. Where Washington chases headlines and regulations, firms like nvp put money where the market validates real solutions, and that should be celebrated by every hardworking American who believes in opportunity over abdication.
Institutional names showed up behind the fund, including Prudential, Rutgers’ endowment, the Ford Foundation and Liberty Mutual, signaling that mainstream capital still rewards sensible, results-driven investing rather than ideology. Those are not trophy donors throwing money at a social experiment; they are backers expecting disciplined returns, and that accountability keeps venture capital honest.
Crowe’s personal story — growing up in Newark and talking candidly about grit, family and taking risks — is a reminder that free enterprise lifts people up when given a chance. He told Forbes he wants to “catalyze dreams with capital,” and that kind of mentorship-plus-money model beats lecture halls and grant committees any day when it comes to creating generational opportunity.
The interview didn’t shy from reality: 2025 was a rocky year for VC, and nvp says it’s building a concentrated portfolio of 25–30 companies with about 10 investments made so far and meaningful dry powder left to deploy. That discipline — smaller, smarter checks into startups that solve concrete business problems — is precisely what will separate winners from the hype-chasers as the market weeds out unicorn fantasies.
nvp’s focus on vertical AI — industrials, healthcare, logistics and other legacy sectors — is a practical, conservative blueprint: let entrepreneurs compete, let customers pick winners, and resist Washington’s urge to pick winners with regulations and subsidies. If policymakers want more innovation, they should stop taxing and regulating it into retreat and start letting firms like nvp do the heavy lifting of scaling honest companies.
For the next wave of founders, the message is simple: build useful products, show customers will pay, and bring people who will actually open doors — not just show up to panels. nvp promises more than capital; Crowe talks about being a “dot connector,” and that kind of hands-on, accountable investing is the lifeblood of American renewal if we let free markets and hardworking people lead the way.
