Enterprise Partners raises $350 million fund
The venture firm is expected to announce on Monday that it has raised a $350 million fund that will largely focus on telecommunications and enterprise software investments.
Enterprise Partners VI plans to mainly invest in companies that are seeking their seed or early rounds of funding. The company expects to invest between $2 million and $7 million for its initial investment and an average of $15 million per company over the life of the fund.
"We're looking for companies that have disruptive technology," said Andy Chedrick, chief financial and operations officer with San Diego-based Enterprise Partners. "It has to be technology that will be a quantum leap and be better, faster or cheaper."
He added that the companies also need to be in an area that one of the fund's four partners has some familiarity with.
Enterprise invests in telecommunications companies in such areas as fiber optics, telecom equipment and wireless. Within the enterprise software industry, it has looked at supply-chain management companies. The venture firm also invests in the life sciences industry.
Enterprise plans to invest in 20 to 22 deals with its latest fund, which had more limited partners who wanted to invest in the fund than the firm could accept, Chedrick said. The firm's last fund raised $310 million in 1999.
Enterprise's past investments included Active Software, which was later acquired by WebMethods.