Fundraising of the Year – Venture Capital
Blackbird Ventures Fund V (Blackbird Ventures)
Blackbird Ventures closed its fifth fund, which invests across Australia and New Zealand, on AUD 1bn (USD 647m) in November 2022. It is the largest-ever VC fund raised by an Australia-based manager – and twice the size of Blackbird’s prior vintage. The fund comprises three pools of capital: a core fund of AUD 284m, a AUD 668m follow-on vehicle that will participate in growth rounds for existing portfolio companies, and a NZD 275m (USD 163m) New Zealand fund. LPs include Future Fund, AustralianSuper, Hostplus, HESTA, Telstra Super, Aware Super, and NGS Super. The mandate is to invest in “generational” technology companies.
Globis Fund VII (Globis Capital Partners)
Globis Capital Partners closed its seventh Japan venture capital fund – and the largest pure early-stage vehicle ever raised for the country – on JPY 72.7bn (USD 544m) in April 2023. It continues a step-up in size across several vintages, with the prior three funds securing JPY 11.5bn, JPY 20bn, and JPY 40bn. Fund VII spent 18 months in the market during which Globis had to negotiate the impact of severe corrections in global listed technology stocks. The investor base is 90% institutional and 90% Japan. Approximately 35% of the corpus is expected to go into follow-on rounds for existing portfolio companies.
Matrix Partners China VII (Matrix Partners China)
Matrix Partners China closed its seventh China venture capital fund on target at USD 1.6bn in August 2023. The target was disclosed in a regulatory filing dated June 2022. A final close was pencilled in for March, but the fundraising period was extended by several months. Matrix raised USD 1.2bn for its sixth fund in 2021. Fund VII will follow much the same strategy as its predecessors, focusing on early- and growth-stage deals in China’s technology sector. Early-stage investments are in the USD 1m-USD 10m range, with Matrix preferring to enter as the first institutional investor and largest non-management shareholder.
Monolith Venture Fund I (Monolith Management)
Monolith Management closed its debut China venture capital fund in June 2023 at USD 264m, surpassing the hard cap of USD 250m. The initial target was USD 200m and a first close of USD 185m came in January. Monolith was founded in 2021 and its first product was a USD 500m hedge fund. Some LPs agreed to transfer a portion of their contributions to the VC fund, giving the process additional momentum. Other LPs in the new fund include US endowments, Asian family offices, and fund-of-funds. In addition, there is said to be a relatively large GP commitment of 20%.
Nexus Ventures VII (Nexus Venture Partners)
Nexus Venture Partners reached a final close on its seventh India venture capital fund in with USD 700m in commitments in February 2023, taking the firm’s total assets under management past the USD 2bn mark. Fund VII is the largest ever raised by Nexus, which had maintained consistent fund sizes – of around USD 450m – for several prior vintages. The mandate covers the US as well as India, with artificial intelligence, software-as-a-service (SaaS), financial technology, and e-commerce identified as key investment areas. Nexus noted that India has emerged as a hub for global companies driving the AI and software revolution.