Funds: ComVentures Targets $500 Million Fund V –

PALO ALTO, Calif. – ComVentures expects to hold a first and final close this summer on its fifth fund, the $500 million-targeted ComVentures Fund V, said Roland Van der Meer, a general partner at the firm.

In line with the firm’s previous vehicles, the new fund will target early-stage Internet and communications infrastructure and services companies in the U.S. and abroad. The firm will back about 20 companies with the new fund with investments ranging between $10 million and $30 million, over several rounds, Van der Meer said.

The firm also plans to create a side fund, worth up to 10% of the main fund for chief executive officers and entrepreneurs of the firm’s previous portfolio companies, he noted.

Limited partners in Fund V will consist mainly of existing limited partners – pension funds, institutional investors and endowments – who will be joined by an additional one or two players, Van der Meer said. The firm takes a management fee and carry “standard of top-tier firms,” Van der Meer said.

The firm’s previous fund, the $350 million ComVentures Fund IV, will be completely committed to some 18 to 20 companies later this summer, Van der Meer said. The firm’s portfolio includes Universal Axis, a local and long-distance ISP and CLEC provider, Monteray Networks Inc., acquired by Cisco Systems Inc. in September 1999, and Chromatis Networks, an optical networking equipment provider, recently acquired by Lucent Technologies Inc.

The ComVentures investment team consists of five general partners: Cliff Higgerson, David Helfrich, Michael Rolnick, Paul Vabakos and Van der Meer.