Venture capital firm New Enterprise Associates announced it has raised a $2.5 billion venture capital fund, the second-largest venture capital fund ever.
The fund was the firm’s own largest, breaking its previous record of $2.3 billion which it closed in 2000. The just-announced $2.5 billion fund brings the total committed capital in NEA funds to $8.5 billion. NEA focuses its investment in the information technology and healthcare industries, including biotechnology, and NEA’s managing general partner Peter Barris indicated that would not change with the new fund, dubbed NEA 12. The new fund will also be used to expand NEA’s presence in Chinese and Indian markets.
“Deepening our domain expertise and expanding our global reach will benefit our current portfolio companies and ensure that we are in the best position to continue to identify and build the most promising new businesses of tomorrow,” said Barris in a statement.
About 60 percent of NEA’s investments focus on companies in the early stages of development. Since its founding in 1978, the firm has invested in more than 500 companies; more than 150 of those companies have gone public, and more than 200 have been acquired.