SAN FRANCISCO — Bessemer Venture Partners says it has closed $4.6 billion in new capital across two funds—$3.85 billion for its twelfth flagship fund, BVP XII, and $780 million for its inaugural BVP Forge fund.
These two new funds allow the firm to back entrepreneurs and management teams across all stages of growth, regardless of maturity or structure. Bessemer Venture Partners focuses on early- and growth-stage venture capital investments through its current $2.475 billion BVP XI fund, $825 million Century II growth fund, and $220 million early-stage focused India fund that were raised in 2021. However, with BVP Forge and its dedicated Forge fund, the firm is expanding its flexibility to support growth buyouts with different liquidity, capital structure and operational support requirements.
Bessemer’s global portfolio has included Pinterest, Shopify, Twilio, Yelp, LinkedIn, PagerDuty, DocuSign, Wix, Fiverr and Toast and currently has more than $20 billion of assets under management.
Doubling Down on Early-Stage Investments
BVP XII will enhance the firm’s primary focus on seed and early-stage investments in companies spanning enterprise, deep tech, fintech, consumer, and healthcare, allowing the partnership to continue investing early in promising technology companies and support them through their growth. The firm takes a global approach to its investments with teams located in Silicon Valley, San Francisco, New York, Boston, London, Tel Aviv, Beijing, and Bangalore.
“We are proud to announce our BVP XII fund, which we are excited to invest in innovative companies across all stages, sectors, and geographies,” said Jeremy Levine, a partner in Bessemer’s New York office. “Over the decades, Bessemer has successfully navigated and supported entrepreneurs through times of rapid change and market volatility. Innovation thrives during these periods, and that remains true in the midst of today’s more challenging market, as we partner with founders to build enduring companies.”
Bessemer has a long history of forward thinking and roadmap-driven investments and currently has more than $20 billion of assets under management. In 2021, the firm saw 12 IPOs, five public listings, and nine M&A exits within its portfolio.
Expanding into Growth-Focused Private Equity with Separate Fund and Team
The $780 million Forge fund is specifically designed for growth buyout and significant minority transactions in software and tech-enabled services businesses. Through this fund, BVP Forge will invest in and support management teams with a dedicated platform and its ForgeEdge operational program while leveraging the unique network and expertise of the Bessemer platform. BVP Forge’s dedicated investment team is led by Partners Rob Arditi and Navid Oreizy.
“We pride ourselves on partnering with entrepreneurs to help them scale from their earliest days through IPO and beyond. BVP Forge allows us to widen our ability to support management teams seeking liquidity and wanting a hands-on partner to navigate through their next stage of growth,” said Bessemer Partner Brian Feinstein, who championed the firm’s expansion into growth buyouts.
To further support its expanded investment strategy, Bessemer has elected to become a registered investment advisor (RIA) with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which opens opportunities to invest across a wider range of assets at various stages.
“We’ve established a platform for investing across the global technology landscape, from early-stage to growth buyouts, and have created a structure where our venture capital and growth-focused private equity platforms remain focused on their fundamental investment stages,” said Scott Ring, Bessemer’s chief strategy officer. “We are thankful for the support during this fundraise of our Limited Partners, who we’ve been fortunate to build the trust of, and maintain long standing relationships with—a testament to the work of our team and the strong performance and track record of the firm.”
