Deep Fork Ventures closes $500M fund

Deep Fork Ventures, a firm whose partners are linked by wine, has raised $500 million for a new fund, according to VentureWire.

Impressively, the three partners — Aubrey McClendon, Andre de Baubigny and and Timothy Komada — provided all of the money, Komada told VentureWire. The three met through Vintrust, which dubs itself an “investment bank for wine” and provides storage facilities, wine management software and advice. The company was founded by de Baubigny and Komada, and McClendon was an investor.

The five-year fund is based in Menlo Park, Calif. and Okalhoma City. Planned sectors for investment include consumer technology, the Internet, digital media and cleantech; the firm led the recent $15 million funding for real estate search company Trulia.