Pond Ventures closes above target

Another glimmer of hope for European venture, Pond Venture Partners has reached a second closing of its third fund Pond III at $130m and will soon be closing off the fund at $145m, which is oversubscribed and above the original target of $125m.

Investors in the fund include HarbourVest Partners, LLP, AlpInvest, The Wellcome Trust and European Investment Fund.

Pond Ventures focuses on investments in seed and early stage European technology. With the launch of Pond III earlier this year, the firm increased the number of partners involved to six with three partners based in the US and three in Europe. Working out of the US are Richard Irving, Kent Godfrey and Lei Fu. Charles Irving, Mike Gera, and Jamie Urqhart are based in Europe.

Based in Silicon Valley and Europe, Pond Ventures is dedicated to building European technology into global companies. Whilst the focus is on investing in ideas which start in Europe, the partners work on the ground in the US and Asia to help start-ups grow worldwide.

Pond Ventures has also re-designed its website where all interested technology entrepreneurs can discover both what Pond is looking for from a potential investment and what hands-on assistance it gives to its portfolio companies.