Metrics 2.0: NEA closes its largest $2.5B fund, in a $20 billion a year VC system

$5.6 billion
761 deals
US venture capital investments in the first quarter of 2006

New Enterprise Associates announced its latest whopper fund: $2.5 billion, targetting life sciences in the U.S. and startups in emerging markets including India and China.NEA's previous largest fund was the $2.3 billion fund raised in the heady days of 2000.

NEA raised $1.1 billion in 2003 at a time when most firms, burned by the dot.com and telecom busts, were cutting fund sizes in half, to $400 million or less. (NEA's Even Bigger Thinking - BusinessWeek).

The firm has invested some $200 million from earlier funds in about a dozen Chinese startups.

Venture capitalists remained on a steady pace in the first quarter of 2006, investing $5.6 billion in 761 deals according to the MoneyTree Report by PricewaterhouseCoopers and the National Venture Capital Association based on data provided by Thomson Financial.

Practicing classic venture capital for 28 years, NEA focuses on investments at all stages of a company's development, from seed-stage through IPO. With approximately $8.5 billion in committed capital, NEA's team has invested in over 500 companies, of which more than 150 have gone public and more than 200 have been acquired. NEA has offices in Reston, Virginia, Menlo Park, California and Baltimore, Maryland.

Business & Market Intelligence

NEA closes its largest $2.5B fund, in a $20 billion a year VC system