At the AlwaysOn Venture Summit last week, Accel Partners' Joe Schoendorf
predicted "the bull market to end all bull markets" once the economy rebounds from its current downturn. His Silicon Valley-based firm is preparing to capitalize on that turnaround with a pair of new funds: the $480 million Accel Growth Fund and the $525 million Accel London III fund.
The Accel Growth Fund is described as an expansion beyond Accel's core early-stage strategy, intended to support "attractive, growing businesses across all stages of the private company life cycle," according to a statement from Accel partner Theresia Gouw Ranzetta. The launch of the new fund echoes Geneva-based early-stage peer Index Ventures'
move into later-stage investing earlier this year.
The London III fund follows a $450 million European fund closed in July 2005, and it will target opportunities in Europe and Israel. Accel has launched several international funds, including a $510 million
vehicle launched in conjunction with IDG Technology Venture Investment for opportunities in China and a $60 million
fund targeting seed and early-stage investments in India. The firm also has a $600 million private equity fund,
launched in conjunction with Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. in September.
The firm is still investing its $520 million Accel X early-stage fund,
closed in November 2007. Best known for taking an early stake in social networking platform Facebook Inc., the firm also holds stakes in real estate site Trulia Inc., mobile advertising marketplace AdMob Inc. and online video distributor Brightcove Inc., among
many others. Past exits include RealNetworks Inc. [
RNWK], Foundry Networks Inc. [
FDRY] and Macromedia Inc.
- Paul BonanosSee press release from Accel
Continue reading below
