InterWest News
InterWest closes 10th fund
The Daily Deal
Clifford Carlsen
11 August 2008
After almost 30 years investing in life sciences and information technology, InterWest Partners LLC has closed a $650 million 10th venture capital fund, it announced Monday, Aug. 11.
InterWest Partners X follows the Menlo Park, Calif., firm's $600 million ninth fund, closed in September 2004, and will be invested over three to four years, as have its previous funds. The new fund brings total capital InterWest has raised to $2.8 billion since the firm was founded in 1979. General partner Arnold Oronsky said most of the capital in the new fund was committed by limited partners from previous funds, with a small amount attributed to new investors.
While many traditional Sand Hill Road firms formed in the late 1970s and early 1980s have trimmed or abandoned investment in life sciences to favor information technology and new areas including energy and cleantech, InterWest has maintained an even split between life sciences and IT, and is expected to continue to do so in the new fund.
InterWest also will continue to focus on early-stage investing, while retaining some flexibility to do an occasional late-stage deal.
The firm expects to invest in 25 to 30 new companies in each sector, and will retain a portion of the fund for follow-on investment over the 10-year life of the fund. The firm has not finished making new investments from Fund IX, and expects to make five or six more before initiating investment from Fund X this fall.
InterWest focuses dealflow in information technologies including software, computing and communications infrastructure, and semiconductors. The firm also will invest in life sciences therapeutic areas including cardiology, oncology and immunology, infectious diseases, ophthalmology, neurology and orthopedics.
While the new fund is slightly larger than InterWest's previous fund, dealflow is likely to remain constant, as general partner Bruce Cleveland remarked in April that the firm has tweaked its strategy to provide portfolio companies more capital to weather the slowing economy.
While 11 general partners managed the previous fund, InterWest embarks on Fund X with 10, including new general partners Chris Ehrlich, Nina Kjellson and Doug Pepper.
InterWest used no outside financial adviser. The firm received legal counsel on closing the fund from Cooley Godward Kronish LLP.
