EPlanet Ventures raising fund, but without DFJ backing

EPlanet Ventures, the global venture capital firm that once had allied with former Draper Fisher Jurvetson to invest in companies like Baidu.com and Skype Technologies, is raising $500 million for its second fund.

The plans were reported this morning by VenturewWire, which cited an offering document.

Its investment track record is impressive, however, it isn’t clear how successful the firm can be without the DFJ affiliation. Former partners of DFJ in China, or people linked to DFJ, such as Draper Richards partner Howard Hartenbaum, did much of the work to find and nurture deals like Baidu and Skype — and they are no longer helping the firm.

So the past returns don’t really mean much anymore. According to VW, the firm’s $650 million fund, raised in 1999, produced “realized and unrealized value of more than $1 billion on $426 million of invested capital in 72 portfolio companies, generating a gross internal rate of return of 32% and a 3x multiple on investment, the document stated.”

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