Atlas Venture, an early-stage international venture capital firm, has closed its eighth fund at USD283m.
Atlas Venture, an early-stage international venture capital firm, has closed its eighth fund at USD283m.
Atlas Venture VIII will continue the firm’s strategy of funding early-stage technology and life sciences start-ups in the US and Europe.
‘The new fund is the right size for our early-stage focus and organizational structure,’ says Jean-Francois Formela, partner at Atlas Venture (photo). ‘We feel fortunate to have a fresh pool of capital to invest at a time when we see steady innovation coupled with a return to capital efficiency. This is a good environment in which to fund new companies.’
With the launch of Atlas Venture VIII, the firm has promoted Bruce Booth to partner in the life sciences group. Booth joined Atlas Venture in 2005 and has helped form several portfolio companies. He currently sits on the boards of Ivrea and Zafgen, and is chairman and co-founder of Miragen.
Investors in Atlas Venture VIII include existing limited partners, such as Kisco Management, the Kresge Foundation and Paul Capital, and new limited partners including Franklin Park, Industriens Pensionsforsikring and Meketa Investment Group.
‘We are pleased with our investment in Atlas Venture VII, an internationally diverse portfolio of innovative technology and life sciences companies. The fund has shown strong early performance and continued momentum,’ says David York, a managing director at Paul Capital. ‘We remain excited about the team and its early-stage focus, and look forward to our continued partnership in Atlas Venture VIII.’
The first investment in Atlas Venture VIII was made in CloudSwitch, a technology start-up currently in stealth mode. CloudSwitch was founded by entrepreneurs Ellen Rubin, formerly of Netezza, and John Considine, formerly of Pirus Networks (acquired by Sun Microsystems). Atlas Venture co-led the USD7.4m investment.
