By Jane Lanhee Lee
(Reuters) - Silicon Valley venture capital firm TCV said on Wednesday it raised $4 billion for its 11th fund, the biggest fund in its 25-year history, after many of the portfolio companies in its previous funds boosted their business amid the pandemic.
The announcement follows a record year for U.S. venture capital firms which raised $73.6 billion in 2020, beating the previous record of $68.1 billion set in 2018, according to PitchBook. Still, the number of funds fell to 321 last year versus 595 in 2018, showing fewer funds raised bigger amounts.
TCV invests in private companies at the later growth stage. In some cases, as with its investment in Netflix Inc or Peloton Interactive Inc, the firm will continue to invest or hold its stake after the companies go public, said Neil Tolaney, general partner at TCV.
The latest fund will help TCV "double down" on its investments in areas including fintech, education technology and digital entertainment, he said.
Some of the biggest venture capital funds raised last year, according to PitchBook, include Tiger Global Management's $3.75 billion fund in January, New Enterprise Associates's $3.6 billion fund in March, and Andreessen Horowitz's two funds in November totaling nearly $4.6 billion.
(Reporting By Jane Lanhee Lee; editing by Richard Pullin)
