• Fund is focused on ‘new technologies critical for both the private sector and national security interests of the US’
• J2 Ventures raised $68m for its first fund in 2021
• The firm has more than $200m in AUM

J2 Ventures, a Boston-based deep tech venture firm, has raised $150 million for its second fund, beating its target by $30 million.

Investors in J2 Ventures Argonne Fund include JP Morgan, MetLife and the New Mexico State Investment Council.

J2 started fundraising in July 2023 with a target of $120 million, according to a regulatory filing.

“The growth of our portfolio, doubling down of existing LPs and attraction of some of the most sophisticated institutional investors as well is a great confidence boost that there is not only appetite for our model, but a strong and rapidly growing interest,” J2 managing partner Alexander Harstrick said in a statement.

The new fund will target start-ups developing “new technologies that are critical for both the private sector and national security interests of the US and its allies.” J2 noted that it is especially interested in backing companies in the sectors of “advanced computing, cybersecurity, telecom/infrastructure and healthcare,” and the firm “helps them win funding and contracts from the military and other branches of government to better scale frontier technology products for their markets.”

J2 Ventures raised its $68 million inaugural fund in 2021.