81 Collection raises $82 million for second fund, sticks with the blueprint

Same strategy, bigger pool

Backing Colossal Biosciences Inc., 81 Collection secured $82 million for its second fund and plans to stick with the approach that guided its first vehicle. Patel said the new vehicle will follow the same playbook, taking minority stakes in founder-owned businesses across sectors like construction, retail, real estate and manufacturing.

"We want to keep focusing on real industries with an equal balance on cash flow and technology," Patel said.

Track record and portfolio

The first fund gathered $41 million in 2022 and, according to Patel, has since doubled in value. He launched 81 Collection after selling Pressbox, his dry-cleaning and laundry startup, to Procter & Gamble Co. in 2018. As he put it, "I'm a bootstrap dry cleaner at heart, and so all the businesses we do are just going rhyme with that." He added the firm is unlikely to hold "the next OpenAI or even the next Colossal."

Patel said the stake in Colossal is not central to the strategy. He first invested personally, then "gifted" that position into the fund. Other holdings include Grounded RVs Inc., Uptiv Health Inc. and EcoEnclose.

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Colossal's splashy valuation

In early 2025, the company carried a valuation of more than $10 billion, and reports indicated that figure doubled in the most recent funding discussions.

Why it matters for investors

This is a bet on the real economy: founder-owned companies with cash flow at the center and tech as a lever. If the first fund's value doubling is any guide and the second fund sticks to the same disciplines, it signals a continued push into under invested sectors tied to the physical world.

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