Battery Ventures closes $750 million fund

WALTHAM & MENLO PARK, USA & HERZLIYA, ISRAEL: Battery Ventures, a multi-stage investment firm focused on technology and innovation worldwide, today announced that is has closed its ninth fund, BV IX, at its $750M target. This brings total committed capital in Battery’s nine funds to nearly $4 bbillion. Battery invests out of offices in Waltham, MA, Menlo Park, CA and Herzliya, Israel.

Equivalent in size to its predecessor fund, BV VIII, at $750 million Battery IX provides the flexibility to invest small amounts of capital during the formative stages of a new business, as well as large sums to support later stage venture, growth equity and buyout deals.

BV IX will continue the investment strategy Battery has employed over its 25-year history, investing in driven entrepreneurs and high-potential businesses that are diversified along three dimensions:

Sector: Key investment sectors are Internet and Digital Media, Financial and Information Services, Clean Tech, Software, Enterprise IT, Communication Services, Semiconductors, and Industrial Technologies.
Stage/deal type: Battery invests at all stages – seed/early and late stage venture capital financings, as well as buyouts, take-privates, PIPEs and rollups.
Geography: The firm invests worldwide, with the majority of its investments in North America, Israel and India.

“In a highly selective investment environment where Limited Partners are winnowing their managers, Battery continues to garner strong support from investors,” said Michael W. Taylor, Managing Director at HarbourVest Partners.

“They have provided consistent returns, in both up markets and down, and are true partners with their LPs. Battery clearly laid out their fund raising timeline and worked collaboratively and transparently with investors to bring the fund to a close right on time. We have the utmost confidence in the investment team and look forward to continuing this relationship.”

The capital base for BV IX is composed of 85 percent repeat investors and 15 percent new investors.

“We’re proud to have closed this fund in what is certainly one of the most challenging times for our asset class,” said Managing Partner Tom Crotty. “We could not have done it without strong support from our existing investor base. We are also pleased to have attracted a number of high quality LPs who are investing with Battery for the first time. Success with new investors allowed us to adjust and re-balance our capital base.”

“After a slow investment pace industry-wide in 2009, we look forward to rounding out the portfolio of Fund VIII and initiating the investment cycle for our new fund. With improving market fundamentals, we believe the next few years will be healthy ones to put money to work, and we’re geared up to find the next generation of entrepreneurs and opportunities,” concluded Crotty.

The BV IX General Partners are: Neeraj Agrawal, Michael Brown, Tom Crotty, Sunil Dhaliwal, Rick Frisbie, Morgan Jones, Ken Lawler, Roger Lee, Dave Tabors and Scott Tobin. Limited Partners in BV IX consist of private & public pensions, endowments & foundations, fund of funds managers, and financial services firms including banks and insurance companies.