Wednesday, June 16, 2010

VC and Private Equity Fundraising is Very Tough This Year

It's no secret in the world of venture capital and private equity  that it's not easy right now to raise new money to invest in portfolio companies. But at the PEI Investor Relations and Communications Forum last week, I picked up some interesting datapoints from Alexander Leykikh, a partner with Atlantic-Pacific Capital, a placement agent [meaning they raise money for private equity and venture capital funds for a fee]

He said that VCs and PE fund managers had been expecting a 25% reduction in the money committed to their funds by institutional investors, but that in reality, investors are cutting back by more like a 50% reduction. Furthermore, he added that only 75-80% of limited partners (investors) are re-upping.

Dan Primack on peHUB reported some data today about one fund that certainly seems to bear-out this trend. He reported that Polaris Venture Partners, which last raised a $1 billion fund, initially reduced its target for its latest fund to $500 million, but has since lowered it again to $400 million, and according to a regulatory filing, they've only raised $233 million it to date.

No comments:

Post a Comment