US-based venture capital investor Charles River Ventures (CRV) has raised its 15th fund, dubbed CRP XV, with a corpus of $375 million. The new fund is marginally larger than the firm’s 14th fund, which had a corpus of $320 million. The firm has been a sporadic investor in the Indian market, investing in companies such as July Systems, SMS Gupshup and the ill-fated Gridstone Research.
CRP XV will focus on early-stage technology investments with disruptive technologies, teams and business models, said a press release issued by the firm. The fund, says the release, was over-subscribed and closed within just two months of fundraising. The firm has seen several exits over the past few years through initial public offerings by portfolio companies such as RPX Corporation, Broadsoft and The Active Network. Earlier this year, mobile ad network Millennial Media, which recorded more than $100 million in revenue in 2011, filed to go public. Exits through the mergers and acquisitions route include BNI Video (acquired by Cisco) and Vlingo’s pending acquisition by Nuance Communications.
CRV’s India run has been somewhat mixed. Its 2008 investment in financial research startup Gridstone Research, founded by Infosys executives, went to seed when the company shut shop in 2010 on account of the economic slowdown that hit the US market in 2008-2009. CRV has participated in a $10 million Series B round led by Bangalore-based Helion Venture Partners. In July the same year, the firm teamed up again with Helion to invest $11 million in a Series C round in mobile group messaging service SMS Gupshup and continued to invest in successive rounds, including a $10 million Series E round last year.
CRV’s earliest investment in an Indian startup was in cross platform mobile solutions provider July Systems. The firm entered July Systems at the Series B stage, leading a $10 million round of funding in 2004. Since July’s business restructuring in 2006, CRV is no longer listed as an investor on the company’s website.
Image Courtesy: Charles River Ventures
