July 9-10, 2013
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Foundation Capital announced its seventh fund today, a $282 million pool of money that the venture firm plans on investing in early-stage startups.

Menlo Park, Calif.-based Foundation Capital has handled a total of $2.7 billion since it was first founded 17 years ago. This firm primarily invests in early-stage companies and plans to focus this current fund on consumer technology, information technology, and clean technology.

Eight of the venture firm’s partners will invest from this funding, including Charles Moldow and Ashmeet Sidana who we chatted with last year about the state of venture capital and then unique relationship VCs have with each other. Moldow refers to it as “coopatition” a little cooperation and little competition mixed in together.

Some of the most well-known companies that Foundation Capital has invested in includes Chegg, Ebates, and Netflix.

Money image via Shutterstock

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

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In a new illustration of the vibrant activity of the Moscow venture scene, Maxim Shekhovtsov and Alexander Zhurba – founders of TexDrive, one of the city’s largest startup accelerators – announced last week the creation of a fund dedicated primarily to IT projects in Russia and around the world.

Christened Genezis Capital, the fund actually launched and made its first investment in late 2012 – but the official announcement was delayed to take advantage of the most suitable moment for it, Zhurba said in an exchange with East-West Digital News.

Genezis was put together by a group of more than 30 limited partners, representing investment banking, PE funds, large-scale multinationals and just “wealthy people.”

The amount of the fund – which is still open to new LPs – has not been disclosed. But Genezis sources have stated that it has raised enough money to invest in three to five seed or early-stage companies every year, with each receiving from $25,000 to $1 million, and in two more mature startups for as much $20 million apiece – and this for at least two years running.

IT projects are expected to account for up to 70% of the fund’s investments, with the rest allotted to beefing up players in biotech, clean tech, energy saving, alternative energy and robotics.

A global focus

In Russia, Genezis works as an extension of TexDrive, managing the accelerator’s assets. Its playing field has been rather narrow, with no more than 70 investment-grade startups in the country, the fund has estimated.

But Genezis – which was registered in an as-yet unspecified foreign country – seeks investment opportunities across markets as diverse as the U.S., Europe, Russia and Asia. “We consider Russian and foreign startups under identical criteria,” Zhurba told EWDN.

The ‘invest abroad’ trend among Russian funds started in 2009, when Yuri Milner’s Digital Sky Technologies invested in Facebook. Since then, a bevy of Moscow-based VCs, including Bright Capital, Phenomen Ventures, Runa Capital and Ru-Net, have been chasing opportunities around the world, while DST’s cash has fueled Airbnb, Alibaba, Spotify, Twitter and several other top Internet companies.

Genezis Capital’s first investment – more than $10 million – went to an undisclosed company operating in the U.S. and Western European markets. Its Russian portfolio includes B-152, an Internet service that helps businesses comply with the demanding requirements of Russia’s personal data legislation; Martmania, a Novosibirsk, Siberia-based online retailer; and Fleecs, a startup developing a payment solution for fuel stations.

Photo Credit: John Leach/Flickr

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

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I have to hand it to Mike Lynch: one way to overshadow an investigation into his former company’s books is to raise a $1 billion venture fund on the same day.

Despite the controversy surrounding former company Autonomy, Lynch has not lost the confidence of his limited partners, primarily sovereign wealth funds. The Telegraph reports that Lynch is pressing ahead with plans for his venture fund called “Invoke,” and has even brought on Autonomy executives, including former finance chief Sushovan Hussain.

The fund has already invested security software company Featurespace, and is specifically looking to bankroll British research-led companies. According to The Telegraph, Lynch plans to help fledgling companies grow by acquiring bigger businesses and using their infrastructure to help smaller technology companies develop their products.

Lynch has vehemently denied charges of accounting misconduct. He sold Autonomy to Hewlett-Packard for $11.1 billion in August, 2011. Amid growing controversy, analysts later referred to the acquisition as one of the worst corporate deals in recent memory.

July 9-10, 2013
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Spark Capital plans to close its oversubscribed $425 million fourth fund in two weeks, the firm revealed in a correction to a story published in Business Insider.

Spark only revealed it would be raising its fourth fund in December.

The venture firm was founded in 2005 by Todd Dagres, Santo Politi and Paul Conway (pictured above). It has its roots on the East Coast, but invests around the globe. The partners say on the firm’s website that their secret sauce is that they “don’t just study the markets,” but are “active users in the products in which we invest.”

The firm will invest in diverse market segments, including advertising, e-commerce, cloud computing and infrastructure, social, mobile and content.

The news was revealed today on Twitter by Dow Jones’ reporter Laura Kreutzer and Fortune editor Dan Primack.

Oversubscribed. Began marketing in Dec. RT @laurakreutzer: Spark Capital to close Fund 4 with $425M in 2 weeks. Keeping premium carry.

— danprimack (@danprimack) February 7, 2013

The firm’s best-known portfolio companies include hipster eyewear brand Warby Parker, Tumblr and Twitter.

Top image via Spark Capital

Silicon Valley venture firm Andreessen Horowitz has brought on its first new partner in two years. The firm’s new hire Chris Dixon is a New York City-based angel investor and two-time entrepreneur.

Most recently, Dixon was tasked with running eBay’s New York headquarters, and improving the e-commerce giant’s recommendations engine. He was brought into the fold after eBay acquired his startup, Hunch. Dixon’s first company SiteAdvisor was acquired by McAfee.

It’s a big win for Andreessen — as an investor, Dixon has built up a strong reputation for supporting New York CIty’s entrepreneurs. He has dabbled in angel investing for over seven years, and successes include Foursquare, Kickstarter,  Dropbox, Pinterest, Codecademy, Stack Overflow, and Skype. He also co-founded a East Coast seed venture fund called Founder Collective.

Storied investor Marc Andreessen authored a blog post outlining the reasons the firm hired Dixon as its seventh general partner. “Chris began programming at 8 (beating me by a whole year), starting on a TRS-80 Model 1,” he said. Andreessen was also impressed that Dixon left Bessemer Venture Partners, one of the oldest venture firms where he worked as an associate, to start his first company.

Dixon will based in California but will maintain his residence on the East Coast. He said he will invest in both consumer and enterprise startups at all stages, including seed.

At this juncture, nine months after joining eBay, Dixon said he considered launching another company, but after some serious soul-searching, he realized his talents would be better served as an investor. “Startups are tough,” he said. “I thought it might be time to try something else.”

In a phone interview from Andreessen Horowitz’ office, he told me that he has been impressed with the firm’s “new model,” and worked closely with them as a co-investor in New York-based startup, Foursquare.

“They have a marketing team and recruiting team as well as a focus on investment,” he said. “As an entrepreneur, I would have loved to have that support infrastructure.”

Dixon, a prolific blogger, announced the news in a blog post today.

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

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Longitude Capital amassed $385 million to invest in drug development and health technology for its second fund, Longitude Venture Partners II.

This firm’s first fund closed in July 2008 with $325 million. The portfolio contains mostly midstage to commercial-stage companies, including Amarin, Aptus Endosystems, AqueSys, CardioDx, Civitas Therapeutics, Corcept Therapeutics, Jazz Pharmaceuticals and NxStage Medical. It has offices in Menlo Park, Calif., and Greenwich, Conn. Read the press release.

Trinity Ventures, a Silicon Valley-based venture firm that has been around for 25 years, is keeping its fund-size modest despite escalating interest from its limited partners. It’s a bubble, alright.

Rumors have been circulating about the eleventh fund for over a week, but the firm did not issue a confirmation until today. The new fund was highly oversubscribed but capped at $325 million to allow for a higher partner-to-fund ratio.

According to Ajay Chopra, a general partner at Trinity Ventures, the fund-size has been kept deliberately modest in previous years.

“We can manage our portfolio companies and stay deeply engaged with early-stage companies.” In an effort to connect with young founders, the firm runs Dolores Labs, a coworking space in San Francisco’s Mission District.

The firm specializes in early-stage startups in the digital media and e-commerce, software-as-a-service (SaaS), and cloud services. Chopra told me that the piping hot areas for the firm are SaaS solutions focused on the front office, startups that are tackling the online to offline trend, mobile e-commerce, and consumer-focused tablet applications.

Among their investments are Aruba Networks, Extreme Networks, Infoblox, Starbucks, Jamba Juice, and Wall Data, which have all gone public.

In their more recent funds, the most promising investments include BeachMint, Care.com, Kixeye, Maxpoint, New Relic, RadiumOne, ServiceMax, and TubeMogul.

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

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One of India’s leading venture capital firms, Nexus Venture Partners, has amassed its largest fund to date.

This $270 million pool is dedicated to fueling the country’s technology scene by helping Indian startups penetrate international markets. It will also be used to help U.S. startups tap into India’s emerging markets.

The Nexus III fund will focus on early stage companies as well as promising entrepreneurs looking for seed money. Its mission is to give fledging businesses the boost they need to become successful, both at home and abroad, and to establish a global presence.

“India has the talent to build leading global companies,” said cofounder Naren Gupta. “We want to play a role in creating the ecosystem where passionate entrepreneurs can realize their dreams.”

Nexus has an active portfolio of over 40 companies, which have achieved nearly $1 billion in total exit value. It typically makes 6-8 investments a year of up to $10 million. Portfolio companies include Cloud.com, Gluster, Pubmatic, DimDim, Sneapdeal.com, MayMyindia, and Netmagic.

The firm was formed in 2006, with previous committed funds of $100 million and $220 million closing in 2007 and 2008 respectively. It is based in Mumbai and Silicon Valley.

The firm is based in Sao Paulo, Brazil and will back Brazilian Internet companies with a focus on e-commerce, mobile, and cloud services. Founding partners Yann de Vries and Anderson Thees hope to bring their Silicon Valley expertise to Brazil and offer guidance, financing, and partnerships to startups in Brazil.

Redpoint eVentures has already funded three startups, Viajanet, a travel site; Grupo Xango, a cloud computing service; and Shoes4you, a women’s fashion and footwear site.

Starting a company in Brazil can be a huge undertaking. There is a lot of bureaucratic red tape to cut through and the process of founding a business can take months. Startups and the VCs that invest in them don’t have a ton of professionals, such as lawyers and accountants, to rely on, because the country is lacking them.

Despite the tough entrepreneurial conditions, Brazil is becoming a burgeoning tech startup hot spot. Its economy is large and the population of Internet users is growing. Startups are popping up quickly and gaining a lot of traction. In fact, Peixe Urbano, a daily deals site out of Brazil, won a 2011 Crunchies Award for Best International startup. The company has millions of users and raised several rounds of funding from Benchmark Capital, Morgan Stanley Investment Management, and other VCs.

Redpoint and BV Capital eVentures’ portfolios include well-known Silicon Valley tech companies such as Groupon, Angie’s List, and Netflix. This is eVentures’ fourth international fund, following funds for Europe, Russia, and Asia.

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

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Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR), a private equity fund, is looking to raise $6 billion to establish a new pool for Asian startups.

Reuters reports that the new funding will be raised during the beginning of 2012 and that the firm had originally planned to raise $4 billion but will now be aiming as high as $6 billion.

Already, KKR represents the largest Asian-focused fund from a private equity firm. The firm maintains a $4 billion fund raised in 2007 to support Asian investments as well as a $1 billion China growth fund. The former is currently 70 percent invested, sources told Reuters, which has prompted the new fundraising efforts.

KKR now has investments in China, Singapore, Korea, Japan, Vietnam and Taiwan.

According to recent reports from KKR, it expects less volatility in markets like China where the government debt load is lower. “Both Europe and the U.S. are likely to face increased political unrest and social discord as they try to stimulate growth and reduce debt at the same time,” the firm stated in its statements on global macroeconomic trends.

Analysts at the firm also pegged Asia (with the exception of Japan) as a key point of global economic growth but also cited Chinese inflation as a point of concern.

As we’ve noted in recent months, a shaky market in the U.S. as well as distinct advantages in the pan-Asian arena are making the region more and more interesting to investors. Singapore in particular is a hotbed, with a tech-savvy workforce and startup-friendly government regulation.

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

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TechCrunch editor and founder Michael Arrington is no longer employed by AOL, clearing up some confusion about his standing with the company after his $20 million CrunchFund was announced yesterday.

Both Arianna Huffington, head of AOL’s media group, and AOL spokesperson Mario Ruiz confirmed to Business Insider this morning that Arrington was no longer employed by the company.

The news makes Arrington’s venture fund seem like less of a conflict of interest, since he no longer has any official capacity at TechCrunch. Still, while Arrington may no longer be attached to TechCrunch officially, I have a hard time believing that his influence over the site and the companies that it covers will disappear overnight.

Previously, it was thought that Arrington would step down as TechCrunch’s managing editor but still be involved with writing. Speaking to Business Insider, Huffington clarified the situation, saying that Arrington could contribute to AOL’s blogs without being paid, as long as he follows AOL’s blogging guidelines. (The latter point is interesting, since AOL CEO Tim Armstrong previously gave Arrington leeway to invest in companies he was covering, while other AOL writers were banned from doing so.)

AOL acquired TechCrunch last year, and it offered Arrington an earn out of over $10 million if he stayed on for three years. It’s unclear if his move to the venture world will affect that.

Update: AOL SVP of corporate communications Maureen Sullivan tells Business Insider that ”AOL is not comfortable with TechCrunch being used as an access point for deal flow.” Score one for journalistic integrity, though Arrington’s CrunchFund partners may not be so enthusiastic.

Update 2: Even Mike Arrington seems confused by the news. “I have no idea what AOL’s final position on this will be,” he told the New York Times this afternoon. “I look forward to hearing it. I’ll respond once Arianna has made her last statement.”