Accel Raising $2B-Plus for 2 U.S. Funds, 2 China Funds

VCJ confirmed a Wall Street Journal report in mid-February that Accel Partners plans to raise a combined $2 billion for four separate funds this year.

Accel Partners, the first and largest VC investor in Facebook, is in the market with IDG Capital Partners for two funds targeting China, but it has not yet approached its limited partners with plans for two more U.S.-focused funds, according to a person familiar with the effort who asked not to be named. If Accel hits its targets for all four funds, it will raise a total of more than $2.1 billion.

Accel and IDG raised $600 million for an early stage fund called IDG-Accel China Capital in 2008, and will likely raise the same amount for a follow-on fund; the two firms also raised about $515 for IDG-Accel China Growth Fund II in 2007, and they will likely raise the same amount for a third China-focused growth fund, the source says.

Separately, Accel is not in the market for two funds targeting the U.S. market, but it will probably be later this year, according to the source. It will likely raise an 11th core fund of $520 million, the same amount it raised for its 10th fund in 2007, and $480 million for a sophomore growth fund, the same size as the vehicle it raised in 2008, the source said.

Accel has enjoyed a number of large exits over the past few years, including the IPO of Qlik Technologies (Nasdaq: QLIK) last July. Following the IPO, Accel held 16.88 million Qlik shares, which were valued at $434 million at yesterday’s closing price of $25.74 per share.

Also last year, Amazon.com agreed to pay $500 million for Accel portfolio company Quidsi, the parent company of Diapers.com. That deal hasn’t officially closed.

Other hits for Accel include the sale of SpringSource to VMware for $362 million in cash in August 2009, the sale of Playfish to Electronic Arts for up to $400 million in November 2009 and the sale of AdMob to Google for $750 million in November 2009.

Besides Facebook, notable private companies in Accel’s portfolio include Atlassian Software, Brightcove, Groupon, Cloudera, Dropbox, Etsy, Glam, Imperva, Lookout, Modcloth, SBNation, Sunrun, Trulia and Truste. —Lawrence Aragon