VC fund briefs, week of May 3, 2010

HealthCare Ventures raising ninth fund

HealthCare Ventures, which has been making early stage and growth stage deals since 1985, is targeting upwards of $250 million for its ninth fund, according to a regulatory filing.

The would be a step down from the nearly $380 million raised for fund VIII in 2005.

Managing Directors James Cavanaugh and Hal Werner, who were listed as principals in a fund VIII filing, are not listed in the latest fund filing. The pair are the firm’s only investment pros in Princeton, N.J., while the remainder are based in Cambridge, Mass.

Neither Cavanaugh nor Werner returned calls for comments.

HealthCare Ventures currently lists 41 active portfolio companies, including Oriel Therapeutics, which has not yet completed its recently announced acquisition by Sandoz. —Dan Primack

Artiman Ventures begins marketing push for latest fund

Artiman Ventures is seeking to raise at least $150 million for its latest early stage fund, Artiman Ventures 3, according to Private Equity Insider.

The firm, which has offices in East Palo Alto, Calif., and Bangalore, raised $185 million for its previous fund, which closed in 2007.

The firm is led by founder and Partner Amit Shah, who currently sits on the boards of AbsolutelyNew, Auryn, Dyyno, Guavus, InvenSense, Lightwire, Mastek, Motif and Zyme Solutions, according to Artiman’s website.

Before founding Artiman, Shah was general partner at seed stage venture firm Anthelion Capital.

Tsing eyes fourth cleantech fund

Tsing Capital, a Chinese cleantech venture firm, is targeting $250 million for its fourth fund, according to VentureWire.

Millennium closes its second secondaries fund

Millennium Technology Ventures, a New York-based direct secondaries firm, has closed its second fund with $280 million in capital commitments.