TrueBridge Capital Partners, a boutique alternative asset investment firm, has closed its second venture capital and growth equity fund-of-funds, TrueBridge-Kauffman Fellows Endowment Fund II, at USD342 million, exceeding both its initial target and the size of its first fund. TrueBridge currently manages over USD700 million in assets across its funds-of-funds.
Fund II received commitments from limited partners, which include foundations and endowments, private and public pension funds, asset management firms, and high net-worth individuals. TrueBridge is strategically partnered with the Kauffman Fellows Program, an educational non-profit organisation with an 18-year history of identifying and educating the future leaders of the venture capital industry. As a result of its long-standing partnership with the program, to date TrueBridge has received commitments for its funds from more than 100 individual Kauffman Fellows who are active venture capitalists. The majority of Fund II’s capital was raised from investors in the United States, with additional participation from limited partners in Asia, Australasia, and Europe. In addition to existing limited partner engagement in the second fund, TrueBridge added several new investors to its roster for Fund II.
TrueBridge’s first fund, CVE Kauffman Fellows Endowment Fund I, closed in August 2008 with more than $310 million. It was oversubscribed by $60 million and closed in seven months.
Edwin Poston, General Partner and Co-Founder of TrueBridge, says: "We are grateful for the continued support of our limited partners and the opportunity to make compelling investments in the top venture capital and growth equity firms in the industry."
"Mel and Edwin have built a remarkable team and executed their strategy brilliantly," says Phil Wickham, President and CEO of the Center for Venture Education. "The over-subscription of this, their second fund, during such trying times in the private equity markets is a strong show of confidence from their investors in both the firm and the venture capital asset class as a whole."
