Doughty's VC arm scores 5x exit as it raises Fund II

Doughty Hanson Technology Ventures is set to complete the fifth exit from its first fund, closed on $272 million in 2001. The venture division of the UK-based private equity firm Doughty Hanson is raising, and already investing from, its second fund. A source told PEO the firm has held a first close on Fund II.

The $295 million sale of Gomez to CompuServe will return five times the firm’s investment, it said in a statement. Since 2001, it has invested a total of $8.8 million via four funding rounds for the company, which provides website performance monitoring tools and related services.

The big difference between private equity and venture capital is in private equity, their big success comes early and what’s left in the portfolio is usually the problem child. In venture, it’s the other way around. Ivan Farneti

“We’re very happy with it,” Ivan Farneti, a principal of Doughty Hanson Technology Ventures, said in an interview. Farneti joined the company’s board in 2003 after its purchase of fellow website monitoring company, WebPerform.

Asked why the exit took nearly a decade, Farneti noted: “The big difference between private equity and venture capital is in private equity, their big success comes early and what’s left in the portfolio is usually the problem child. In venture, it’s the other way around.”

The Gomez deal is subject to customary regulatory approvals and is expected to close next month.

A Doughty Hanson Technology Ventures spokesman declined to comment on fundraising matters.