Score one for New England tech VCs. Boston-based venture firm Spark Capital said today it has raised a new $360 million fund to invest in Web and digital media startups. The news was first reported by the New York Times.
Spark Capital focuses on early-stage investments in technology, media, and entertainment companies. Its portfolio includes companies such as Twitter, Tumblr, and Boxee, and its investments range in size from a few hundred thousand dollars to tens of millions. The firm competes (at the low end of its startup financings) with so-called micro-VC and super angel investors, as well as some more traditional venture firms and angel groups—all of whom are trying to make small initial investments in promising young tech companies at an earlier stage. But most of them don’t have $360 million to work with—at least not yet.
Bijan Sabet, a general partner at Spark, is quoted in the Times piece as saying, “It’s definitely become much more active, but we’ve been making seed investments since we started and we’re going to keep doing that.”
Author: Gregory T. Huang
Greg is a veteran journalist who has covered a wide range of science, technology, and business. As former editor in chief, he overaw daily news, features, and events across Xconomy's national network. Before joining Xconomy, he was a features editor at New Scientist magazine, where he edited and wrote articles on physics, technology, and neuroscience. Previously he was senior writer at Technology Review, where he reported on emerging technologies, R&D, and advances in computing, robotics, and applied physics. His writing has also appeared in Wired, Nature, and The Atlantic Monthly’s website. He was named a New York Times professional fellow in 2003.
Greg is the co-author of Guanxi (Simon & Schuster, 2006), about Microsoft in China and the global competition for talent and technology. Before becoming a journalist, he did research at MIT’s Artificial Intelligence Lab. He has published 20 papers in scientific journals and conferences and spoken on innovation at Adobe, Amazon, eBay, Google, HP, Microsoft, Yahoo, and other organizations. He has a Master’s and Ph.D. in electrical engineering and computer science from MIT, and a B.S. in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
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