Lux Capital Closes $245M Third Fund New Fund Builds Upon Successful Investments in Energy, Technology and Healthcare;
Calls for Big, Bold, Brave Ideas
NEW YORK & PALO ALTO, Calif., February 13, 2013-- Lux Capital (www.luxcapital.com), a leading venture capital firm, today announced the closing of its third fund, Lux Ventures III, with commitments totaling $245 million. The Fund was oversubscribed, surpassing its initial $200 million target, and is the firm’s largest to date. Limited Partners comprise a number of prominent global foundations, endowments, financial institutions, fund-of-funds, corporations, and family offices.
“We are incredibly fortunate to have the support of our existing investors, as well as welcoming new institutions as our partners in Lux Ventures III,” said Lux Capital General Partner Adam Kalish. “We all share the philosophy that a differentiated approach and willingness to make contrarian venture investments can drive superior results.”
“At Lux, we are sticking to our knitting to build a concentrated portfolio of extraordinary companies in unconventional areas,” said Lux Capital Co-Founder and Managing Partner Josh Wolfe. “Many of the themes and entrepreneurs we’re excited about—in 3D printing, metamaterials, robotics and breakthroughs in solid-state electronics—are non-obvious, and that’s by design. We believe the combination of brilliant entrepreneurs and deep scientific innovation drives immense industry shifts and profits. Both at Lux and our companies, we’re growing rapidly and calling for the boldest and brightest that want to invent and invest in the future.”
Lux recently opened a new office in Palo Alto. The firm also added three new Venture Partners to the team since raising its prior fund: Jeff Kindler, former Chairman & CEO of Pfizer; Jim Woolsey, former Director of the CIA; and Richard Foster, former Senior Partner at McKinsey.
Lux Ventures III is pursuing the same focused investment strategy within the Energy, Technology and Healthcare sectors – investments revealed to date include Gridco Systems, Kymeta, Kyruus, and Shapeways. The Fund is making seed investments from $100,000 up to commitments of $15 million over a company’s life. In addition to founding its own companies and backing brilliant entrepreneurs from inception, Lux will also focus on special situations and corporate spinouts. Lux’s prior fund Lux Ventures II closed in 2007, allocating its nearly $100 million in commitments to representative investments including Kurion, Transphorm, Cerulean, Genocea, Kala, and Everspin.
"Lux has been a valuable forward-thinking partner and investor in helping build Shapeways," said Peter Weijmarshausen, co-founder and CEO of Shapeways. "Our motto is ‘Made in the Future’ and they're among the few actually investing in it."
“Lux has taken a creative and methodical approach to build the next great venture firm,” said Richard Robb, of CVF, LLC, an affiliate of Henry Crown & Company. “By leveraging a novel platform and employing a unique investment strategy, Lux is backing exciting companies and in the process has created a very special firm.”
About Lux Capital Management
Lux Capital Management is a leading venture firm focused on founding, seed and early stage investments in emerging technologies. Lux takes an active role in helping entrepreneurs build successful businesses in Energy, Technology and Healthcare. The Lux investment team has founded more than 20 companies from scratch, including Caliper, Genocea, Illumina, Kala, Kurion, Lux Research, Nanosys, Neurocrine, and Vertex Pharmaceuticals. The firm is based in New York and Palo Alto. For more information please visit www.luxcapital.com Contact:
Lux Capital
Peter Hebert, 650-681-0270
peter.hebert@luxcapital.com
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