SAN FRANCISCO, March 15, 2005 (PRIMEZONE) -- VSP Capital (www.vspcapital.com), a market-focused, early stage venture capital fund, formerly known as Venture Strategy Partners, announced today it has closed its third fund with $185 million. VSP invests in early stage companies in the consumer and enterprise technology markets.
The announcement follows a strategic expansion of the VSP partner team, with two new general partners named to the Firm in the past six months, and a name change that better reflects the firm's focus as a financing source for fast growth entrepreneurs.
"This strong showing from premiere institutional investors reinforces the effectiveness of our investment philosophy and the financial, operational, marketing and sales expertise of our expanded team," stated Joanna Rees-Gallanter, Founder and Managing Partner of VSP.
Complementing general partners Joanna Rees-Gallanter and Matt Crisp, VSP recruited general partner John Hamm, a seasoned operating executive, start-up CEO and board member of many high growth technology companies, such as Adaptec, Brocade, Documentum, Whistle Communications and Western Digital. John was most recently managing director of TCG Advisors, where he counseled CEOs and executive teams in the areas of market strategy and leadership. Additionally, Vince Vanelli, an experienced marketing and sales executive at such companies as Inktomi Corporation, Hitachi and IBM, was named general partner, having been a venture partner at VSP since 2002. Dana Settle, formerly of Mayfield Fund, joined as a partner.
VSP's investment strategy is to back early-stage, best of breed technologies and apply deep expertise in addressing market risk. The belief is that few companies fail because their technology does not work, yet companies clearly succeed when they find customers and generate sustainable revenue.
"VSP is quickly becoming a venture capital firm of choice for those entrepreneurs who understand the importance of marrying great technology with marketing, sales and operational know-how," said James Mason, of Parish Capital Advisors. "VSP has attracted a talented team of partners with extensive investment, operations and leadership expertise who work to not only identify promising investment opportunities but actively support the development and growth of portfolio companies."
"VSP has been instrumental in the success of our business, helping develop the marketing and sales strategy that enabled us to go from start-up to full production in less than 18 months with distribution partners including some of the largest consumer technology retailers in the country," said Richard Mandeberg, of Mirra Inc., a developer of digital content protection products for the home and small business markets.
The close of the $185 million VSP III fund brings the total amount of capital under management at VSP to over $400 million.
VSP completed the close with a premiere group of 14 institutional investors, such as Horsley Bridge Partners, Cal Regents, Adams Street Partners, Duke Endowment and Wellcome Trust. In addition to the support of the institutional investors, VSP will top off the fund with additional capital from several high profile CEOs and industry leaders who have approached the firm about fund participation. The fund will not exceed $200 million in size.
About VSP Capital
VSP Capital, a San Francisco-based venture capital firm founded in late 1996, invests in early-stage companies helping build sustainable, high growth businesses through active partnership and positioning. Founded on the belief that the value of technological innovation is only maximized through a defined positioning in the marketplace, VSP Capital's internal and external team of experts work alongside entrepreneurs to establish category and brand-leadership. Investments include: ZipRealty (Nasdaq:ZIPR), QuinSteet, Danger, Mirra an Oddpost (Yahoo!). Find out more at: http://www.vspcapital.com.