Boston-based .
The firm, named after Boston Red Sox slugger Ted Williams’ record setting batting average in 1941, raised about 85% of the fund from institutional investors, such as fund of funds Parish Capital. Co-founder Maria Cirino, a well-known tech entrepreneur, said the fund should last for the rest of 2008 and well into 2009.
Co-founder and Managing Director Larry Begley said that the fund size exceeded its goal of $150 million because limited partners were impressed with the operational experience and focus of Begley and co-founders Cirino and Liam Donohue. “They [the LPs] can see the value we’re adding,” Begley told Mass High Tech.
The firm invests in early stage tech companies, with a particular focus on such verticals as open-source software, tech-enabled business services and information security. Each of its nine portfolio companies is based within Massachusetts, although Cirino says the firm is willing to look elsewhere for select opportunities. For example, it’s currently considering a deal in Seattle.
Among the companies in .406 Ventures’ portfolio are security software firm Bit9 Inc., online business rating site RatePoint Inc. and corporate security software maker Memento Inc.
Athena working on sidecar
VCs have invested more than $2.3 billion in nearly 400 companies in South Korea over the last five years, according to data from Thomson Financial (publisher of PE Week). The majority of the money has come from global firms, such as The Carlyle Group, Apax Partners and 3i Group, and the venture investment arms of large companies, such as Hyundai Venture Investment Corp. and Samsung Venture Investment Corp.
The country is still a fresh environment for U.S.-based VCs. DCM has done one deal there, Storm Ventures has done two and Intel Capital has done six, according to Thomson Financial.
Accel, Venrock team with William Morris
As PE Week reported last week, Hollywood talent agency
The joint fund will be managed by Los Angeles-based angel investor Richard Wolpert, who previously served as president of Disney Online and chief strategy officer of RealNetworks.
In announcing the fund last week, the consortium did not disclose its size, though it is believed to be between $30 million and $50 million, which is much smaller than the $150 million to $200 million being raised for a similar digital media fund by rival talent agency CAA in partnership with Draper Fisher Jurvetson and two ex-Palomar Ventures professionals.
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The filing lists John Cadeddu and R. Thomas Goodrich as general partners and Public Safety Personnel Retirement System and Syracuse University as limited partners.