SFERS, with $13 billion in net assets at the end of fiscal 2010 and 3.8% of its holdings in venture capital, has committed about $899 million to the asset class since the start of 2000, according to a peHUB analysis of its recent public portfolio report. That’s meant investing in 45 funds, the analysis found.

Palo Alto, Calif.-based social networking company Backplane has closed an undisclosed amount of Series A financing. Investors include Sequoia Capital, Greylock Discovery Fund, Battery Ventures, Formation 8, Advance/Newhouse Investment Partnership, Google Ventures, Founders Fund Angel, Menlo Ventures, SV Angel and i/o Ventures. Formed in 2011, Backplane will use the money to expand its engineering and [...]

RelayFoods.com has added $3.1 million in new capital from return investor Battery Ventures and other, undisclosed investors. The company, which sells groceries, specialty foods, and local farm products online, has raised a total of $5.5 million. The latest infusion will be used for expansion.

The big news today is that Facebook is reportedly planning to register to go public next week. It should come as no surprise, then, that our most popular post this week was about this year’s prime IPO candidates. Other hot topics included the above-average performance of the San Francisco Employees’ Retirement System’s PE portfolio, a surge in VC investing and promotions at Carlyle and TA Associates. Here are the top 10 posts peHUB’s regular readers found most compelling from Jan. 23 to Jan. 27

1. Slideshow: Bring on the 2012 IPO Candidates – by Joanna Glasner
2. Scorecard: San Francisco Builds A Winning PE Portfolio – by David Toll
3. Venture Investing Rebounds In 2011 With Early Stage Leaping To A 10 Year High: Slideshow – by Mark Boslet
4. Aydin Senkut Recalls a Game of Pool with Aaron Levie Led Him to Milo.com: PHOTOS – by Alastair Goldfisher
5. Slideshow: Smart Grid, Smart Play? – by Jonathan Marino
6. TA Associates Promotes Eight – by peHUB staff
7. Carlyle Promotes 41 Execs – by peHUB staff
8. Global PE M&A Does Well in 2011 – by Angela Sormani
9. TransDigm Group Acquires AmSafe Global – by peHUB staff
10. Battery, Bay and USVP Could See 22x Return from Guidewire IPO – by Lawrence Aragon

Battery Ventures, Bay Partners and U.S. Venture Partners hit a grand slam with today’s IPO of Guidewire Software Inc., which makes software for insurance companies. As a group, the three venture firms hold about 25 million shares valued at about $428 million at today’s closing price of $17.12. The firms invested a modest $19.5 million [...]

Battery Ventures has invested in Continuuity, a Big Data startup born out of the firm’s Entrepreneur-in-Residence (EIR) program and founded by Battery EIR Todd Papaioannou. Andreessen Horowitz, Ignition Partners, and several prominent angel investors including Bob Pasker, Matt Ocko and The Data Collective, and Paul Ambrose, also participated in the round. PRESS RELEASE Battery Ventures [...]

Eye-popping late-stage rounds that went to a handful of smart grid companies from 2008 to 2010 have been replaced with smaller fundings, but VCs say that’s no reason to get down on the space. If big strategics keep helping VCs rack up billion-dollar exits, expect cash to keep flowing and growing into smart grid startups. [...]

Battery Ventures led a $27 million financing round for conversational marketing technology developer Neolane. Existing investors Auriga Partners, XAnge and Gilles Queru also participated in the round. The money will go toward bolstering sales, marketing and product development efforts.

Battery Ventures has promoted two to general partner: Jesse Feldman, based in Battery’s Waltham, Mass., office; and Brian O’Malley, based in the firm’s Menlo Park office. Feldman is part of the firm’s growth equity and buyout team, and leads Battery’s industrial technology practice. O’Malley focuses on seed and early stage investing in the consumer Internet sector.

Apple is in talks to buy Israel’s Anobit, a maker of flash storage technology, for as much as $500 million, according to a report published on Tuesday, writes Reuters. Anobit has raised $76 million from Battery Ventures, Pitango Venture Capital and Intel Capital since its founding in 2006, writes Reuters. (Reuters) – Apple Inc is [...]