Jerusalem Global Ventures cuts funds by $30m

(PrivateEquityCentral.net) Israel-based venture capital firm Jerusalem Global Ventures has reduced the size of two of its funds by a total of $30m.

The firm reduced its communications fund to $60m from $80m and its information technology fund to $60m from $70m. The firm’s life sciences fund remains at $36m. The firm’s management fee was also cut by an undisclosed amount. In total, the firm has reduced its total funds under management from $188m to $156m.

“This is a prorated reduction of the entire fund, where everyone’s investment is reduced by the same percentage,” Micha Avni, a partner at Jerusalem Global Ventures, said in the statement.

JGV has already invested around $50m in 12 companies since 2000, and has $130m still available for investment. Investors in JGV include Agilent Technologies, AOL/Time Warner, Bank of America, Bausch & Lomb, China Development Industrial Bank, Comverse, Conexant, Itochu Techno-Science, JDS Uniphase and Motorola.

Venture capital funds in the US have been slashing funds as well. In 2002, 26 venture capital firms – including Walden International, Meritech, Austin Ventures, Charles River Ventures, Accel Partners, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers – downsized their funds by approximately $5bn in 2002.

Last week, Jerusalem Global Ventures participated in a $56m series D round of financing in Mellanox Technologies, a supplier of InfiniBand silicon semiconductors, led by Bessemer Venture Partners.

Jerusalem Global Ventures invests in early and seed-stage communications, information technology and life sciences companies.