Bay to beef up with two associates

Bay Partners is in the market to hire two associates, one to specialize in consumer Internet investments and the other to focus on mobile devices, PE Week has learned.

The hiring push comes as the Cupertino, Calif.-based firm has lost two of its general partners over the last 18 months. Dino Vendetti left earlier this year to join Formative Ventures and Loring Knoblauch departed from Bay before it raised its 10th fund last year. The two left over differences with the firm’s manager, Neal Dempsey, PE Week reported this summer. Dempsey denies the alligation.

The firm raised $290 million for fund XI in 2005. Its 10th fund, which closed with about $365 million, returned a negative IRR of 16.5% as of March this year, according to investment data from the California Public Employees’ Retirement System.

Dempsey was not immediately available for comment.