Rejected by Sequoia, HRJ Capital roams abroad to invest

May 4, 2007 | Matt Marshall

HRJ Capital, a Woodside, Calif.-based firm that invests money into other venture capital firms is trying to finish raising $250 million for its latest fund.

It is called a “fund of funds,” because it is a fund that carries interest in multiple other funds.

Fund of funds have had a more difficult time lately, since top-ranked venture firm Sequoia Capital decided to shut access to such investors, likely because it believes they don’t add much value.

The latest news was carried by VentureWire (sub required). HRJ Capital is the new name for what used to be known as Champion Ventures, a group started by pro football players Ronnie Lott and Harris Barton. They launched the fund at the height of the boom, and lost money for quite a while because most investments went south shortly thereafter. However, largely due to its investments in Sequoia Capital, the group apparently managed to make a profit.

Now, according to the report, the firm is seeking access to international venture capital, by dividing into two funds, one earmarked at about $150 million for North American investments, the other at $100 million for international commitments.

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Tags: deal

About the Author, Matt Marshall

Matt launched VentureBeat in September of 2006, with the realization that no one else was covering the entrepreneurial and tech innovation scene with the velocity or depth that he was. Prior to founding VentureBeat, he covered venture capital for the San Jose Mercury News from 2001 to 2006. In 2002, Matt was awarded "Journalist of the Year" by the Northern California Society of Professional Journalists. Prior to working at the Merc, he was a correspondent for the Wall Street Journal in Bonn, Germany from 1995 to 1998, and a writer for the Washington Post in 1994. Matt holds a PhD in Government and an MA in German and European Studies from Georgetown University. In addition to VentureBeat, Matt is also the Executive Producer of DEMO, the leading launchpad event for emerging technologies.