Lightspeed Venture Partners has raised a new, nearly billion-dollar fund. It’s the firm’s tenth and has been split in two different pots earmarked for early- and late-stage ventures, according to Fortune, which previously reported the $950 million fund’s size at $1 billion.
CNN reported the Menlo Park VC has set $650 million aside for early-stage bets and roughly half as much, $350 million, for more mature investments. In the past, Lightspeed has favored companies with carte blanche venture capital histories. “We tend to be the first institutional investors in companies and help them from the earliest stages of business development through successful exit and beyond,” its website reads.
In its latest raise, Lightspeed secured $325 million more than it did in 2012 for its ninth fund. Lightspeed IX stood at $675 million and concentrated on early- and expansion-stage investments in the consumer, cleantech and enterprise technology spaces, according to the company. The firm as a whole handles more than $2 billion in committed capital.
Right now, Lightspeed counts more than 140 companies in its active portfolio. The firm leverages prowess in industries including big data, cloud solutions, consumer, storage, networking, mobile, e-commerce, media, energy, software/SaaS, enterprise and social. Notable among its active investments are names such as Bonobos, Livingsocial, Sidecar and Snapchat. Some, like Thoughtspot, have just emerged from stealth mode, while others have or will hit the public market. Nimble Storage made $176.7 million in net proceeds via its debut, while GrubHub is anticipated to bring in roughly $155 million.
Last year, Lightspeed ranked third in portfolio tech exits, tied with Index Venture Partners behind Accel Partners and SV Angel, according to CB Insights. VCs like Accel share Lightspeed’s focus on sectors that will see rampant growth in the future; the Palo Alto firm concentrates on segments including infrastructure, Internet and consumer services, mobile, and software and cloud-enabled services.
These sectors are fraught with buzzwords like ‘social’ and ‘storage.’ Lightspeed and competitor funds invest in companies that serve these segments for their incredible growth potential. In 2013, IDC estimated the big data technology and services market would swell to $32.4 billion through 2017. That same year, Gartner predicted the global public cloud services market would expand to $131 billion. Businesses operating within these “next big thing” industries have already seen a lot of attention regarding exits — just ask Snapchat and those that made the company billion-dollar buyout offers.
A look at Lightspeed’s portfolio shows the firm is prepared to back the technology of tomorrow and the parts, like semiconductors, required to build it. Enterprises in these industries could provide massive returns for Lightspeed in the future.