$400m close for Star Ventures IX

Star Ventures has announced the close of its latest fund Star Ventures Enterprises IX (SVE IX). The fund has secured commitments of $400 million, exceeding its original target of $300 million. This is the thirteenth fund to be raised by the company since its inception in 1992, bringing Star Ventures’ assets under management to $1 billion.

The fund, launched a year ago, will replicate the investment strategy of its predecessors looking for early stage high tech opportunities in Israel, Germany and the US. SVE IX is looking to make a total of 35 investments, 19 of which have already been completed. The average deal size will be $3 million to $10 million.

The new fund is more than double the size of Star’s last comparable fund, Star Ventures Enterprises VII, which raised $130 million in 1997. Siemens, which in the past has been Star Ventures’ most significant investor, was the sole investor in Star Ventures Enterprises VIII. With the close of this fund the company has announced an expanded investor base which includes new US, Asian, Swiss and German institutions, investment banks, insurance companies and pension funds.

The fund has also received capital from fund-of-funds, strategic investors, corporations and private investors – mainly from Germany. Approximately 20 per cent of SVE IX’s commitments came from within Israel and form a parallel investment fund.

Investors in the US provided 25 per cent of the fund with European investors making up the balance. Although new investors provided the majority of the most recent fund, a high percentage of the investors in SVE VII also made contributions to this fund.

Star Ventures is headquartered in Munich with an office in Israel, where nearly half of its investments have been made. The company has a portfolio of 150 companies, the majority of which are in the communication technologies, software, medical devices and Internet infrastructure sectors.