- Sapphire Ventures announced it has raised over $1.4 billion in new capital commitments and it now has approximately $4 billion in AUM
Sapphire Ventures announced it has raised over $1.4 billion in new capital commitments, of which the majority will be used for investing in expansion- and late-stage technology startups globally. And as part of the capital raise, Sapphire is adding a new opportunity fund and it expands the limited partner (LP) base. This capital addition increases Sapphire’s total assets under management (AUM) to approximately $4 billion.
“In today’s market, high-growth startups need the support of experienced and deep-pocketed investors in order to stay competitive. Moreover, investors who provide access to customers, partners, talent and best practices,” said Sapphire Ventures CEO and managing director Nino Marakovic. “With this new capital, Sapphire is better poised than ever to be that partner for our companies, and our focus remains unchanged: to back extraordinary entrepreneurs and help them build category-defining businesses.”
And Sapphire Ventures’ new capital raise follows a year of strong growth for the firm. Sapphire has invested in 15 new companies, saw 5 portfolio company exits, and added 11 members to the investment and portfolio services teams since November 2018. Ever since Sapphire became an independent firm in 2011, the firm had over than 55 exits, including 21 IPOs thus helping create over $100 billion in enterprise value.
“The Sapphire team are partners in the truest sense and bring tremendous value to their portfolio companies,” explained ThoughtSpot CEO Sudheesh Nair. “They’ve made countless introductions to Global 2000 customers, helped us get into top tier events, and been an x-factor in recruiting exceptional talent. They are always willing to do whatever we need to help us on our mission.”
Along with providing capital, Sapphire supports its companies’ investments through its expanding suite of Portfolio Growth services. The Portfolio Growth division is made up of a 10-person team of seasoned business development, talent, and marketing executives and it makes more than 300 customers and partners introductions annually, hosts close to 100 events and executive briefings, and saw over 250 executive talent introductions to help its portfolio companies scale.
“From our inception, Sapphire Ventures has been constantly reimagining what it means to deliver the highest value platform to our portfolio companies,” added Rami Branitzky, managing director of Sapphire’s Portfolio Growth. “As our investment platforms grow, we have expanded our Portfolio Growth services into new areas — such as adding dedicated European business development staff and launch of the CIO Innovation Index study — to make sure our companies have unrivaled opportunities to engage with Global 2000 technology buyers.”
The executive team at Sapphire includes Marakovic, Branitzky, president and managing director Jai Das, managing director Steve Abbott, managing director Beezer Clarkson, managing director Rajeev Dham, managing director Kevin Diestel, managing director David Hartwig, managing director Doug Higgins, managing director Paul Levin, managing director Anders Ranum, Manning director Michael Spirito, managing director Andreas Weiskam, principal Laura Thompson, vice president Cathy Gao, vice president Nate Leung, managing director and COO Abigail Johnson, CFO Anthony Matusich, chief compliance officer and director of risk and analytics Robert Severo, VP of Business Development EMEA Klaus Boeckle, VP of Marketing Scott Brown, VP of Talent Network Elizabeth Patterson, head of business development Shruti Tournatory, director of talent network Katie (Bukstein) Halimi, and Sr. Director of Go-To-Market Rico Mallozzi.
