Immad Akhund, co-founder and CEO of Mercury, has announced the launch of a new $26 million fund aimed at supporting early-stage startups, formalizing his long history of angel investing. This development was first reported by Axios in February.

Since 2016, Akhund has been an active angel investor, backing over 350 startups in their earliest stages. His investment portfolio includes notable companies such as Airtable, Applied Intuition, Decagon, Gecko Robotics, Linear, and Substack, among others.

Akhund expressed his enthusiasm for supporting entrepreneurs, stating that it provides him with energy, perspective, and a sense of satisfaction. He tweeted that having a dedicated fund will enable him to provide more meaningful support to founders, while also reaffirming his commitment to Mercury.

The launch of this fund allows Akhund to offer more structured support to founders and streamline his investment process. To achieve this, he has brought on Yash Doshi as a partner, who has a history of collaborating with Akhund on investments and is an early investor in Mercury.

The fund’s investment strategy will focus on founders with a proven track record of creating impactful products, targeting opportunities in markets valued at $10 billion or more, and supporting startups that aim to advance humanity. This approach is in line with Akhund’s experience as a former part-time partner at Y Combinator.

In related news, Mercury raised $300 million in primary and secondary funding in March, resulting in a post-money valuation of $3.5 billion, double its previous valuation in 2021. The investment round was led by Sequoia and included participation from Coatue, CRV, Andreessen Horowitz, Spark Capital, and Marathon. For more information, visit Mercury.