Battery Ventures, a technology-focused investment firm, has closed two new funds worth a combined USD2 billion to continue backing innovative technology companies worldwide in a variety of sectors.Battery, a 37-year old firm, has closed Battery Ventures XIII, a USD1.2 billion investment fund, and Battery Ventures XIII Side Fund, a companion vehicle capitalised at USD800 million. The side fund invests in later-stage growth and buyout transactions alongside the main fund.
Through these funds, Battery will continue to make investments in core sectors including business software; enterprise IT, including cloud computing, artificial intelligence and cybersecurity; online marketplaces; financial technology; healthcare-IT; and industrial technology. The firm also will continue to execute its differentiated strategy of backing companies at all stages of maturity.
The firm’s staff operates as one global team from offices in Boston; San Francisco; Menlo Park; New York; London; and Herzliya, Israel, outside Tel Aviv.
Battery also announced that, in conjunction with the new fund, Zack Smotherman has been promoted to partner. Smotherman first joined Battery in 2013 and focuses on later-stage investments in the industrial-technology sector. He was previously an associate at WestView Capital Partners and started his career in investment banking. Separately, two other Battery team members, Chiraag Deora and Brandon Gleklen, were promoted to vice president. Deora, based in San Francisco, and Gleklen, based in Boston, work primarily on early- and growth-stage transactions.
Since its founding in 1983, Battery has invested in 426 companies globally, excluding seed deals, resulting in 61 total IPOs and 167 M&A events. Battery closed its last family of funds totalling USD1.25 billion in February 2018.
“We’re extremely pleased to close these two new funds, and we sincerely thank our limited partners for their support,” says Battery General Partner Chelsea Stoner. “To us, the funds highlight the huge opportunity we see in many rapidly evolving technology sectors in multiple geographies—including markets many other tech investors may overlook.”
“Battery continues to believe that our multi-stage investing approach—plus our decades of investing experience—position us well to spot new and disruptive tech trends through all types of market cycles,” adds General Partner Neeraj Agrawal. “We are proud to partner with so many exceptional founders and management teams, whose hard work and discipline building category-defining companies forms the foundation of our business.”
Nancy Ham, the CEO of Battery-backed, healthcare-software company WebPT, which was acquired last year, says: “Battery was an invaluable partner to WebPT and instrumental in helping us grow the company, including assisting with company strategy, executive hiring and M&A, among other things. We would not be where we are today without Battery’s expertise and guidance.”
Scott McFarlane, the CEO of Avalara, the Battery-backed tax-software firm that went public in 2018, adds: “Battery’s deep, decades-old experience in cloud software, and the team’s counsel on both tactical and strategic matters, really helped us evolve from a startup to a mature public company.”
