Firms & Funds

Texas County & District deepens relationship with Spark Capital

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  • Growth Fund II receives $20 mln backing from Texas County & District
  • $24.3 bln pension backed Spark’s flagship for $12.5 mln in March
  • Previous fund closed on $375 mln in 2014

Texas County & District Retirement Systemdeepened its relationship with venture capital and growth equity firm Spark Capital in April, allocating $20 million to Spark Capital Growth Fund II.

Spark set a $500 million target for the fund, according to an SEC filing. In March, Texas County & District Retirement System committed $12.5 million to Spark’s flagship venture capital fund, which is targeting $370 million.

Spark Capital, an investor in businesses like Postmates and Warby Parker, closed its previous growth fund in 2014 on $375 million. The fund was oversubscribed, according to Los Angeles City Employees’ Retirement System documents.

The firm used the first fund to invest in growth-stage media and technology companies, Lacers staff wrote in a 2014 memo. Spark’s growth equity portfolio includes stakes in Slack, a messaging platform valued at $3.8 billion, as well as Medium, a widely used online platform for essays and other content.

Spark Capital’s growth team includes firm co-founder Santo Politi as well as General Partners Todd Dagres, Jeremy Philips, Megan Quinn and Bijan Sabet, according to the firm’s website.

Texas County & District Retirement System set a 14 percent target for its private equity allocation, which includes its holdings in buyout, venture capital and real asset funds. The $24.3 billion retirement system valued its portfolio at $2.5 billion as of September 30. The portfolio was netting a 13 percent annualized five-year return as of the same date.

Action Item: To read Lacers report on the first Spark Capital Growth fund, visit http://bit.ly/1rlKBvR