Silicon Valley stalwart IVP closes $600M fund

Institutional Venture Partners last week announced the close of IVP XII, a $600 million later stage venture fund that will target rapidly growing U.S. technology companies. The fund will focus on communications and wireless companies; Internet and digital media; and enterprise information technology.

The closing of fund 12 is the largest fund raised in the firm’s 26-year history. Fund 11 raised $300 million in 2004. General Partner Norm Fogelsong said the larger fund was driven, in part, by its inclusion last year in two large private equity rounds. IVP was an investor in the $132 million funding of Cortina Systems Inc., a maker of communications chips, and the $75 million late stage funding of HomeAway Inc., a provider of online classified ads for the travel market.

Late stage deal flow is strong, and the firm plans to continue to invest in large private venture rounds with the new fund, Fogelsong said. A typical investment for IVP is from $10 million to $30 million, and the firm prefers to serve as lead investor in venture financings above $100 million.

IVP said its newest fund was oversubscribed, with existing limited partners making the bulk of investments. The firm did not disclose the names of LPs.