PALO ALTO, CA--(Marketwired - May 13, 2014) - Norwest Venture Partners (NVP), a global, multi-stage venture and growth equity investment firm, today announced the formation of its latest fund, Norwest Venture Partners XII, LP. The $1.2B fund targets early to late stage venture and growth equity investments across a wide range of sectors. The new fund, which brings NVP's total capital and commitments to approximately $5 billion, closes on the heels of a record year for NVP as more than 11 of the firm's portfolio companies experienced liquidity events in 2013.
NVP XII follows the firm's NVP XI, a $1.2 billion fund which the partnership began investing in 2010. Over the course of NVP XI, the firm celebrated its 50th anniversary, strengthened its leadership team with key managing partner appointments, announced its healthcare practice, added more than 40 investment, services and operations professionals to its staff and promoted 11 investment and portfolio services executives to partners/general partners. NVP has invested in nearly 550 companies since inception, and currently has over 120 active companies across its venture and growth equity portfolio.
"A key strategy for success at NVP is investment diversification. We invest across multiple sectors, stages and geographies, all with a team approach that enables our portfolio companies to tap into the breadth and depth of our expertise," said Promod Haque, senior managing partner at Norwest Venture Partners. "The closing of NVP XII will enable us to expand our focus in the enterprise IT, consumer Internet, healthcare, consumer products and services sectors and grow our presence in thriving entrepreneurial hubs. We look forward to working closely with passionate and talented entrepreneurs to build the next wave of successful companies."
NVP's 2013 exit success across its portfolio included significant initial public offerings and merger and acquisition activity. Of note, NVP was an early-stage investor in cyber security leader, FireEye (NASDAQ: FEYE), which celebrated one of the most successful initial public offerings in 2013. NVP was also a lead investor in the world's largest digital coupon destination, RetailMeNot (NASDAQ: SALE), which celebrated a successful initial public offering in July 2013. Other liquidity events last year included the acquisition of leading global managed and cloud-based network services company Virtela by NTT Communications for $525 million, the sale of fraud detection leader 41st Parameter to Experian for $324 million and the acquisition of storage management software company ScaleIO by EMC. The firm also witnessed the sale of low-power wireless semiconductor company Passif to Apple, the acquisition of cybersecurity company Morta Security by Palo Alto Networks, and the partial sale of NVP shares of India financial services company Shriram City Union Finance Ltd (NSE: SCUF).
NVP's liquidity momentum has continued in 2014 with the acquisition of music intelligence platform company The Echo Nest by Spotify, the initial public offering of leading technology provider to the global travel and tourism industry Sabre Corporation (NASDAQ: SABR), the sale of wearable device technologies company Basis to Intel, and the acquisition of personalized entertainment discovery solutions company Veveo by Rovi.
Active companies in NVP's portfolio span a wide variety of sectors and stages including such innovators as Adaptive Insights, Apigee, BlueJeans Network, CareCloud, Clarus Marketing Group, Gilt Groupe, Health Catalyst, Intersect ENT, Lending Club, Lumosity, MobileIron, Skybox Imaging, Spotify, Turn and Yatra.
In addition to growing its investment staff across various stages and sectors, NVP has expanded its internal portfolio services resources to further support its companies in the areas of marketing, business development, recruiting, human resources, domestic and international tax counsel and more.
"Because we invest out of one global fund, NVP partners are committed to each investment in the portfolio, regardless of the location or stage, and they all have a vested interest in making every NVP company successful," said Jeff Crowe, managing partner, NVP. "Furthermore, our ongoing commitment to serving as a value added business partner to our entrepreneurs has always been an important part of NVP's culture. Continuing to invest in our portfolio services team is a significant part of our strategy, and we'll continue to grow our staff in marketing, recruiting, HR, finance and other key areas to help our portfolio companies grow and thrive."
"We are experiencing another significant technology shift in the industry and it's an exciting time to be an investor," said Matthew Howard, managing partner, NVP. "The growing significance of such technologies as cloud, mobility, marketplaces and healthcare IT continue to create new venture and growth equity opportunities in an extremely promising investment climate. We are more excited than ever to continue partnering with leading entrepreneurs to build great businesses, and it's our philosophy to add value and fuel the growth of these companies in every way possible."
NVP Snapshot
- Sectors: NVP invests in companies across a wide range of sectors including: technology (cloud & IT infrastructure, Internet & consumer, SaaS), business services, financial services, consumer products/services, and healthcare.
- Stages: NVP works with companies of all sizes and at all stages of investment from seed and Series A to late stage venture and growth equity.
- Geographies: NVP is a global venture and growth equity firm headquartered in Palo Alto, California, with subsidiaries in Mumbai and Bengaluru, India, and Herzelia, Israel.
About Norwest Venture Partners
Norwest Venture Partners (NVP) is a global, multi-stage venture and growth equity investment firm that has partnered with entrepreneurs to build great businesses for more than 50 years. The firm manages approximately $5 billion in capital and has funded more than 550 companies since inception. Headquartered in Palo Alto, Calif., NVP has subsidiaries in Mumbai and Bengaluru, India, and Herzelia, Israel. NVP makes early to late-stage venture and growth equity investments across a wide range of sectors including: technology, information services, business services, financial services, consumer products/services and healthcare. For more information visit: www.nvp.com. Follow NVP on Twitter @NorwestVP.
Join the Conversation