D.C. investment firm Accolade Partners has raised more than $1 billion across three new funds to accelerate its investments in promising young tech and health care companies.
It joins a growing list of local venture and other types of investment firms that have amassed large sums of capital over the past year, even as global political unrest and decades-high interest rates have slowed overall funding activity.
Founded in 2000 by Managing Partner Joelle Kayden, Accolade operates largely as a “fund of funds” that invests in other venture capital and private equity funds, though it does do some direct investing. Its investors are endowments, foundations, family offices and individuals and among the firms it backs are Silicon Valley’s Andreessen Horowitz and Alexandria’s QED Investors, which invests primarily in fintechs. To date, Accolade has raised $5.8 billion.
The largest of its just-announced batch of funds is Accolade Partners IX, L.P., which raised $505 million and closed in May. That fund is making investments in both venture capital and private equity growth funds focused primarily on high-growth software and health care businesses. Separately, it wrapped up fundraising for two other funds in December — Accolade Partners Growth III, L.P. — a fund of funds for private equity growth — closed at $400 million and Accolade Partners Venture I, L.P. — Accolade’s first VC-only fund of funds — closed at $131 million.
Kayden, fellow Managing Partner Atul Rutsgi, Partner Aram Veridiyan and Partner and COO Andy Salembier will lead management of the funds.
Over the summer we reported that Accolade had also raised at least $66.8 million for its third cryptocurrency-focused fund, dubbed Accolade Partners Blockchain III, according to documents it filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. It hasn’t yet said whether it’s closed that fund, which at the time had raised far less than the firm’s earlier crypto funds.
The company declined to comment Friday on the status Blockchain III but said that crypto- and blockchain-related investments remain a “core focus” for the business. The newest funds will not be investing in those sectors, Salembier told me.
Accolade also recently raised $325 million for its first empowerment fund focused on investing in VC and growth equity funds led by women and underrepresented people of color, the Wall Street Journal reported in October.
Other D.C-area firms have also raised hefty sums of late. Bethesda’s Arlington Capital Partners LLC recently closed a $3.8 billion fund — its largest ever — to invest in companies that provide technologies in the aerospace, defense, government services and health care sectors.
Meanwhile in December, Alexandria venture capital firm Columbia Capital indicated in regulatory filings that it had raised $977 million to keep investing in companies in the communications and technology fields.
