May 3, 2001 Three VC Firms Raising Large Funds Despite a slump in venture capital investment during the first quarter of 2001, established venture capital firms do not appear to be seriously inhibited in their fundraising if three recent closings are any indication. Menlo Park, Calif.-based Foundation Capital closed its fourth fund this week on $595 million, according to a report in VentureWire. The report said 40% of the fund's commitments came from university endowments and foundations, 40% from state and corporate pension funds, and 20% from high net-worth individuals and financial institutions. New limited partners in Fund IV include Tucker Anthony, CSFB Investment Management, Champion Ventures, Harvard, Pilot House, University of Texas, VenCap International, and Yale. They join all of the firm's existing limited partners, including Bank of America Capital, California Institute of Technology, Dartmouth College, FLAG Venture Partners, GM Investment Management, J.P. Morgan, Home Life Mutual Insurance, Searle Family Trusts, UNC Chapel Hill, and the Wellcome Trust. Typically, Foundation Capital makes an initial commitment of between $1 million and $5 million. Foundation Capital focuses on investments in the following sectors: Internet infrastructure (where it has seven portfolio companies), enterprise applications (11 portfolio companies), telecommunications (13 portfolio companies), and others including business-to-business e-commerce and Internet media (9 portfolio companies). Specific investments include Internet service provider NetZero, Internet incubator IdeaLab, and online auto dealer CarsDirect.com. Chicago-based Arch Venture Partners has closed its fifth fund on $380 million, bringing total funds under management to $650 million. Limited partners in the fund include corporations, university endowments, and pension funds. Arch closed Fund IV in June 1999 on $175 million. Arch focuses on investments in the following sectors: information technology (where it has 43 portfolio companies), life sciences (25 portfolio companies), and physical sciences, such as semiconductors, optical networking, and advanced materials (21 companies). The firm specializes in funding technologies developed at academic research institutions and national laboratories. The firm maintains offices in New York, Seattle, Austin and Albuquerque. Palo Alto, Calif.-based Advanced Technology Ventures has raised $700 million so far for its seventh fund, which was launched in November last year, and plans to round out funding on $800 million. The fund has received commitments from received 35 limited partners to date, 15 of them new investors. Advanced Technology Ventures' sixth fund, which closed in January last year on $400 million, had 37 limited partners. Founded in 1979, the firm focuses on investments in the following sectors; communications (where it has 16 portfolio companies), Internet infrastructure (23 portfolio companies), software and services (14 portfolio companies), and healthcare (14 portfolio companies). Advanced Technology Ventures makes investments in both Silicon Valley and the north-eastern technology corridor from its Boston office. The firm's most recent investment occurred in January, when it led a $14.3 million round of funding for San Francisco-based e-commerce infrastructure technology provider Black Pearl. PrivateEquityCentral.net is a division of Links Securities LLC Copyright ©2001, PrivateEquityCentral.net