Private Equity
U.S. venture capital firm Versant Ventures has closed Versant Venture Capital V LP at US$305 million, surpassing its initial target of US$250 million. The fund will invest across the global healthcare sector and at all stages of company development. Versant, which has an office in Vancouver, has received capital commitments for Fund V from a number of Canadian institutional investors, including BDC Capital, Fonds de solidarité FTQ, Northleaf Venture Catalyst Fund and Teralys Capital. This support owed to Versant’s current and planned activity in developing Canada’s life sciences ecosystem.
3 min read · 10 December 2014
Venture capitalists say they like to become involved with companies early. How about before they start! That is the motivation behind Madrona Venture Labs, an incubator for idea-stage companies sponsored and funded by Madrona Venture Group.
2 min read · 10 December 2014
Crosslink Capital has raised $137 million for a seventh venture fund, according to a pair of filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm closed on $90.1 million for Crosslink Ventures VII with 38 participating investors, according to the documents.
1 min read · 10 December 2014
McKesson Corp., a provider of healthcare services and information technology, has launched McKesson Ventures, a new healthcare-focused venture fund. Tom Rodgers will serve as the fund's managing director and helm its investments. Previously, Rodgers worked at Cambia Health where he led the firm's venture investing efforts.
3 min read · 10 December 2014
Versant Ventures has raised $305 million for its fifth venture fund, beating its initial $250 million target. The pool will focus on healthcare firms in all stages of development.
2 min read · 10 December 2014
Insight Venture Partners is expected to hold a first close this month on its ninth flagship fund, which has been in the market targeting $2.75 billion, according to two people with knowledge of the fundraising.
2 min read · 09 December 2014
Last week, Formation 8 announced it raised $500 million for its second fund. This profile of the San Francisco-based venture, which already has a monster exit with Oculus VR, previously ran in the July 2014 issue of VCJ.
3 min read · 09 December 2014
CalPERS sees nice gains from Softbank, New Horizon, CDH
1 min read · 09 December 2014
Obvious Ventures, a new San Francisco-based venture firm, has officially launched, according to a blog post by co-founder Ev Williams, The firm is currently raising capital for its inaugural fund that will focus on "world positive" investing. In addition to Williams, who is a co-founder of Twitter, Obvious Ventures' other co-founders are James Joaquin and Vishal Vasishth. Among Obvious Ventures' advisors are Twitter co-founder Biz Stone and actor Leonardo DiCaprio.
1 min read · 08 December 2014
Scott Stanford and Shervin Pishevar of SherpaVentures are raising a $250 million SherpaEverest Fund, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Last year the pair raised their first Sherpa Ventures Fund at $150 million.
1 min read · 06 December 2014
