Crossover III Plans Year-End Wrap –

SAN FRANCISCO – Crosslink Capital expected to wrap its Crossover III fund on New Year’s Eve.

The vehicle, which targets $200 million, reached a first close on $80 million in September, with all the capital coming from the firm’s previous backers.(VCJ, October 1999, page 21).

Managing Director Michael Stark declined to name limited partners, but he said new investors include family offices, entrepreneurs the firm has backed in the past and some innovative institutions.

The fund poses a bit of a challenge for more traditionally minded institutional investors because the vehicle invests in both later-stage private companies and public companies. The hybrid model does not fit the investment rules some institutions are governed by, Stark explained.

He expects at least 60% of Crossover III to come from previous backers of Crossover funds. A six-year fund, Crossover III will invest $4 million to $10 million per company. By press time, the fund closed five venture deals.

Crosslink Capital, formerly Omega Ventures, spun out of investment bank BancBoston Robertson Stephens last spring, taking with it the Omega family of venture funds, as well as the Crossover funds. The Omega funds are strictly venture vehicles while the Crossover funds make investments in public and private companies.

Crossover III is a follow up to Crossover Ventures II, a $66 million vehicle that wrapped in 1996 and is fully invested.

Crossover III has a 1.5% management fee and an 80%/20% carry split.