The overriding theme of 1998’s venture capital fund raising can be summed up very simply: more. Make that a lot more. VCs raised $24.34 billion in 200 funds last year, according to figures released by Venture Economics Information Services, a data company related to Securities Data Publishing, which owns Venture Capital Journal. That’s about $10 […]
Draper Fisher Jurvetson, the Redwood City, Calif. venture capital firm, closed its fifth fund last summer at $183 million – more than twice the size of its previous vehicle raised just two years ago. While the firm continues its long-term commitment to early-stage investing, with so much capital to put to work and just four […]
AUSTIN, Texas – ClearCommerce Corp., a developer of e-commerce transaction technology, in January closed the first tranche of its second venture capital round, landing $7.5 million of a $10.5 million cap. Voyager Capital of Seattle led the first closing, followed by New Enterprise Associates. Existing investors Austin Ventures and Internet Capital Group invested their pro […]
It’s no secret that venture funds have gotten bigger in recent years, but the $5 billion Warburg, Pincus Equity Partners, L.P. far exceeds the norm – and raises questions about whether the vehicle really is a venture fund, and, if so, how one firm will put that much capital to work. Under Warburg Pincus’ deployment […]
UNITED KINGDOM – Although U.K. buyout market value reached a record high for the third successive year in 1998, preliminary figures from the Centre for Management Buyout Research (CMBOR) confirm a notable slowdown in the final quarter. Dollars Up, Deals Down CMBOR reports a total deal value of GBP13.4 billion ($21.88 billion) for 1998, $4.9 […]
AUSTIN, Texas – TL Ventures in January promoted senior associate Chris Pacitti to vice president to help the technology-focused firm manage its fourth fund, which is expected to close in late winter or early spring. Mr. Pacitti, who joined the firm as an analyst in 1995, has focused on evaluating investment opportunities and occasionally served […]
MENLO PARK, Calif. – In an effort to bolster its resources as a seed- and early-stage venture investor, Lucent Venture Partners, the $100 million captive vehicle for Lucent Technologies Inc., added entrepreneur Maureen Lawrence as a partner. Ms. Lawrence, who most recently ran her own technology start-up marketing and management consulting firm, spent several years […]
NEW YORK – The bloodletting at Merrill Lynch & Co. has reached the firm’s profitable private equity group, which in January saw the firing of four top professionals. Managing Director Theresa Clark, Director David Mullane, Vice President Michael Smith – all investment bankers in the private equity group – as well as Dale Meyer, a […]
SAN FRANCISCO – Some four months after his departure as a managing director at Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst Inc., Alan Menkes has joined Thomas Weisel Partners to co-head its private equity program. The investment bank in January began pre-marketing its first private equity fund, a $500 million-targeted vehicle focusing on buyouts and growth equity […]
NEW YORK – Several months after resigning as White House Chief of Staff, Erskine Bowles has joined Forstmann Little & Co. as a partner and has re-joined Carousel Capital, the firm he formed in 1996. Mr. Bowles said he has no plans to return to life in politics, dispelling rumors that he might run for […]