Kleiner Perkins Raises $525M for 15th Fund – CORRECTED

Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers has raised $525 million for its 15th fund, meeting its fundraising target, Christina Lee, the firm’s communications partner, told peHUB Thursday.

Although the new fund is smaller than Kleiner’s 14th fund, “We think it is an appropriate size for an early stage fund and one that allows us to provide for outsized returns,” Lee said.

She noted that “$525 million was always the intended target for KPCB 15″ and that the fund was “oversubscribed.”

Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers tonight announced that it raised $525 million for its 15th fund, falling short of its reported target and its prior fund.

Fortune reported in March that the firm had set out to raise $600 million. PeHUB was unable to find a regulatory document for fund XV.

Kleiner raised $650 million for its 14th fund in late 2010, a Kleiner spokesperson says. according to Fortune.  A regulatory filing shows that KPCB XIV had a target of $650 million, but it does not indicate the final amount raised by the firm.

PeHUB has sought comment from a Kleiner spokesperson about whether the firm fell short of its target. We will update this story if we hear back.

UPDATE: Sources close to the matter told peHUB the figure reported by Fortune “was just speculation based on the last fund.” In fact, the target for fund XV was $525 million from the outset, and Kleiner may end up raising 10% more for a final close of $575 million, the sources said.

Fortune reported that Kleiner would have no trouble quickly raising $600 million. “Even though this is a very fast turnaround, don’t expect Kleiner Perkins to have much trouble hitting its number,” Fortune‘s Dan Primack wrote. “Unlike most firms that visit individual investors in various cities, Kleiner Perkins plans to hold just two large road-show meetings: One in New York City for East Coast investors, and one in Menlo Park for West Coast investors. Both of those presentations will take place next month [April].”

Kleiner said in a statement that Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers XV will focus on “early-stage digital consumer and enterprise, green tech and life sciences companies.”

The fund’s managing members are Mike Abbott, Chi-Hua Chien, Amol Deshpande, John Doerr, Bing Gordon, Wen Hsieh, Randy Komisar, Matt Murphy, Beth Seidenberg, and Ted Schlein, the statement said.

“Portfolio companies in KPCB 15 will benefit from the firm’s holistic approach to company building that we pioneered more than a decade ago,” Schlein said in the statement. “We will identify promising early-stage companies in our areas of focus and bring value-added resources in key areas to help early-stage companies grow and succeed. This includes applying our considerable industry, operational and financial expertise and network of relationships to help entrepreneurs build lasting enterprises.”

(CORRECTION: The original headline of this story was changed and three new paragraphs were added to the beginning to reflect new information brought to our attention from Kleiner Perkins.)

Image credit: Photo of money pile courtesy of ShutterStock