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Draper Fisher Jurvetson raising $600m ninth fund

The Silicon Valley venture firm has raised $435m for its ninth fund, on the way to a reported $600m target.

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Menlo Park, California-based Draper Fisher Jurvetson has raised $435 million (€327 million) for its ninth fund, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

The venture capital firm intends to close the fund on $600 million, reported industry website VentureBeat.

Founded in 1985, Draper Fisher Jurvetson focuses on investments in the wireless, internet, new media, bioinformatics, nanotech, and cleantech industries.

One of its most famous portfolio companies, later acquired by Microsoft, is web-based email provider Hotmail. (Founding partner Tim Draper is to thank for the invention of viral marketing, with his suggestion that Hotmail tack on a “get your free email at Hotmail” message at the bottom of each email.)

Many of the 300 firms the VC firm has backed include household names such as VOIP pioneer Skype, which was later acquired by eBAY, and online directory company Four11, acquired by Yahoo.

Draper Fisher Jurvetson estimates that it annually reviews more than 30,000 business plans from entrepreneurs. It manages more than $4.5 billion in capital.