Sofinnova Partners has raised 240 million euros ($312 million) for its seventh life sciences venture capital fund. Sofinnova Capital VII‘s investors include leading the European Investment Fund, Skandia Life Insurance Company, CNP Assurances, and CDC Entreprises. Sofinnova Capital VII will invest about two third of its funds in European companies, and one third outside of Europe, most often in the USA.

Westbridge has reached a final close of the WestBridge SME Fund. The fund has raised 30 million pounds ($47.7 million) from private high net worth investors and institutional investors including the South Yorkshire Pension Fund. It is also supported by the European Union through its Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme, which is managed by the [...]

Copenhagen, Denmark based early stage venture capital investor Sunstone Capital has completed a first closing of 85 million euros ($110.5 million) for its third Technology Ventures fund. The target is a 100 million euros final closing during 2012. Among the investors participating in the first closing are the European Investment Fund, Dansk Vaekstkapital, Industriens Pension [...]

Private equity benchmarking is a subject of debate for fund managers not only in terms of benchmarking the investments they make, but also in terms of benchmarking themselves in the industry so that they can prove themselves and their track record to their investors. I moderated a panel at the Superinvestor conference held in Paris on Nov. 15 [...]

Corporate VC isn’t dead in Europe. No, really.

Dealing: AC Moore goes private

Getting Greener: GM recycles more of its waste

Yawn: Apple’s latest fails to impress

Yikes: Dexia’s exposure to Greek debt threatens its stability

Yer Doin’ it Right: Washington works toward budget compromise