# Urban Innovation Fund

Urban Innovation Fund is a Private Equity based in San Francisco, United States.

## Overview

- **Organization type:** Private Equity
- **Headquarters:** San Francisco, United States
- **Region:** North America
- **Address:** San Francisco, CA, United States
- **Founded:** 2015
- **Assets under management:** Undisclosed
- **Website:** www.urbaninnovationfund.com
- **LinkedIn:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/urban-innovation-fund

## Regulatory record

- **Reports private funds:** No

## About

Urban Innovation Fund invests in startups transforming massive, regulated industries. They provide seed capital, hands-on support, and regulatory insights to startups in areas like energy, transportation, and fintech. The fund invests in startups shaping the future of cities and backs technologies that underpin the built world, strengthen social systems, and drive economic vitality.

## Sectors

- Urban Tech
- PropTech
- Mobility & Transportation
- ClimateTech
- FinTech
- Enterprise Software

## People

- Clara Brenner — Co-Founder & Managing Partner
- Julie Lein — Co-Founder & Managing Partner

## Questions

### Who runs investment decisions at Urban Innovation Fund?

Co-founders Clara Brenner and Julie Lein share managing partner responsibilities and jointly lead investment decisions. Brenner previously ran Tumml, an urban-tech incubator; Lein was an early Tumml backer and operator. Their combined operating and investing experience gives them dual lenses on regulatory-heavy urban markets.

### How does Urban Innovation Fund source proprietary deal flow?

The firm leans heavily on its public-sector networks — government innovation offices, municipal chief technology officers, and urban-planning departments — for deal referrals that never reach generalist VC pipelines. Its Tumml alumni network and relationships with civic-tech accelerators provide an additional proprietary top-of-funnel that mainstream firms cannot replicate.

### Does Urban Innovation Fund operate as a venture firm or an urban-tech specialist?

It is a venture capital firm, structured as a series of limited partnership funds, but with a mandate laser-focused on urban technology and public-sector-adjacent startups. Its investments span traditional VC verticals — mobility, climate, real estate tech — but always within the city-operating-context thesis.

### Does the firm provide regulatory capital or operate a credit strategy?

Yes — unusually for an early-stage VC, Urban Innovation Fund has originated loans alongside equity to startups that need working capital for government contracts. This hybrid approach helps portfolio companies bridge public-sector payment cycles, a structural need that traditional venture equity alone cannot address.

### What is the connection between Urban Innovation Fund and Tumml?

Clara Brenner co-founded and led Tumml, a San Francisco incubator focused on urban-tech startups addressing public-sector challenges, before launching Urban Innovation Fund in 2015. Tumml alumni and its broader network continue to inform the fund's pipeline; the incubator itself has been absorbed into the fund's fellowship and mentorship programs.

### Where does the Urban Innovation Fund invest geographically?

The firm concentrates on US metro areas, particularly coastal gateway cities — San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles — and emerging secondary hubs where municipal innovation needs are acute and traditional venture dollars are scarce. It does not maintain dedicated international operations.

## Related profiles

- [Urban Impact Ventures](https://altss.com/profile/urban-impact-ventures)
- [Urban-X](https://altss.com/profile/urban-x)

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Last updated: 2026-08-11T15:08:22.057Z

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