HighGear Ventures, founded in 2014 by a former Industry Ventures partner, is seeking $100 million for venture capital secondaries.
HighGear Ventures Secondary I has raised $6.37 million of its target so far from 22 investors, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The minimum investment is $250,000, a figure that can be waived at the GP’s discretion.
HighGear makes direct secondaries investments in VC-backed companies, buys portfolios of mature LP stakes and backs fund restructurings, according to its website. Companies it has or is invested in include cloud computing firm Adaptive Insights, online music streaming service Pandora and laser-based instrumentation developer SpectraSensors.
Founder Jim Jones was a venture partner at VC direct secondaries firm Industry Ventures from 2010 to 2014 and a managing director at technology investor Scale Venture Partners from 1999 to 2010, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Steven Taubman, who joined the San Francisco-based group as managing director in 2016, remains a managing director with secondaries pioneer VCFA Group, where he has been since 1998, according to his LinkedIn profile.
HighGear has one previous vehicle registered with the regulator. HighGear Ventures SPV-T raised $1.065 million, according to a Form D filed in August 2016. How much it had raised by final close is not clear.
In Greenhill Cogent’s 2018 outlook report the advisor noted general partners have been broadening their fund mandates to encompass non-buyout strategies. Venture capital stakes were the second most highly traded last year, accounting for 22 percent of the total, the report noted.
HighGear did not respond to a request for comment.
If you do not receive this within five minutes, please try to sign in again. If the problem persists, please email: