Local investment funds focused on technology companies have raised money as the calendar flipped from 2012 to 2013—more than $90 million, in separate moves by Union Bay Capital, Tola Capital, and Unitus Seed Fund.
—Seattle private investment firm Union Bay Capital Partners has raised $72.3 million from 71 investors, out of an $80 million offering begun at the end of October, according to this SEC filing. On the LinkedIn profile of managing director Kevin Barber, Union Bay Capital is described as “institutionally backed” and focused on providing “patient capital” to “growth stage technology companies primarily in the western United States.”
Specific industries “include software, digital media, outsourced IT services, medical devices, outsourced business processes and healthcare services.” Jeff Schrock is described on LinkedIn as co-founder and managing director. Another SEC filing from 2010 indicates Union Bay Capital raised $3 million.
—Tola Capital, founded in 2010 by Sheila Gulati, has raised $10 million for Tola Capital OS Investments, according to this SEC filing. The Seattle private-equity firm is “dedicated exclusively to pursuing the acquisition of Enterprise Information Technology-focused software companies.”
Tola invests in companies with revenue between $15 million and $90 million. Gulati spent more than a decade at Microsoft in a variety of roles, including most recently general manager of application platform and developer marketing.
—Unitus, a 12-year-old effort to improve life for people at the bottom of the global economic pyramid through sustainable, for-profit means, has raised $8 million to invest in startups in India. Unitus Seed Fund, operated from Seattle and Bangalore, India, aims to invest in 30-40 companies over the next four years.
Investors include luminaries from the world of “impact investing” headlined by Vinod Khosla, and several social and angel investors with ties to Seattle, Utah, India, and Vancouver, BC.
