Fund Briefs, February 2010

Alsop Louie Back in Market

Alsop Louie Partners has held a first close on just over $20 million on a fund called Alsop Louie Capital 2, according to a regulatory filing. The document, filed with the SEC on Dec. 23, lists the “total offering amount” as $20.25 million, “total amount sold” as $20.25 million, and “total remaining to be sold” as $0. However, a source at the firm tells VCJ that fund-raising is ongoing. The source did not disclose the overall fund-raising target.

Alsop Louie was founded by Stewart Alsop and Gilman Louie in 2006 and raised an inaugural fund of $75 million. Alsop was previously with New Enterprise Associates and Louie was formerly with In-Q-Tel, the venture capital arm of the Central Intelligence Agency. —Lawrence AragonFlywheel Hungry for Seconds

Flywheel Ventures is seeking $35 million for its second venture capital fund, according to a regulatory document filed last month. Flywheel raised $32.5 million in commitments for its first fund, which closed in 2005.

No commitments to the new fund have been disclosed.

The Sante Fe, N.M.-based firm invests in seed and early stage information technology and physical sciences companies in the Southwest and Rockies regions.

Recent investments include Lingotek, a Salt Lake City-based developer of collaborative translation technology.

In January, Flywheel achieved an for portfolio company Groople Inc., an Englewood, Colo.-based provider of Web-based group travel services. Groople, which had raised more than $23 million in funding, sold to Short’s Travel Management for an undisclosed amount. —Erin Griffith

NEA Officially Closes on Nearly $2.5B

New Enterprise Associates officially announced last month that it had wrapped up its 13th fund with nearly $2.5 billion in capital commitments. A regulatory filing from late last year had shown that the firm had $2.45 billion committed from 189 accredited investors, including about a 1% commitment from the general partnership itself.

NEA raised $2.5 billion for its previous fund in 2006.

NEA said in a prepared statement that the new fund represents an estimated 17% of all U.S. venture capital funds raised in 2009, is the largest single fund raised since 2007 and brings NEA’s total capital under management to more than $11 billion.

“NEA is thrilled with the tremendous support shown by our limited partners during an incredibly challenging time for the venture capital industry,” Peter Barris, Managing General Partner of NEA, said in the statement. “This is a resounding vote of confidence for NEA as we continue to execute on our global investing strategy, as well as a strong signal of the continued vitality of the venture industry.”

NEA did not disclose any of the names of the limited partners in the fund.

Almaz Captures $30M

Almaz Capital, a venture firm focused on early stage tech opportunities in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States, has received a $30 million fund commitment from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. The firm had held a $60 million first close last year, with Cisco Systems as its anchor LP.

BioMed Raises $104M

BioMedPartners, a Swiss venture capital firm focused on the European health care sector, has closed its second fund with $104 million in capital commitments. The firm raised more than $83 million for its debut fund, which closed in 2003, according to Thomson Reuters (publisher of VCJ).

BioMed also hired veteran pharma exec Karl Deres as a venture partner. Most recently, Deres had been running his own pharma consulting firm.

BioMedInvest II LP will invest in private early to mid-stage health care companies in Germany, Switzerland and neighbouring European countries. The fund is backed by both existing and new investors, including the two facilities of the European Investment Fund, ERP-EIF and LfA-EIF, according to BioMed.