D.C. software-focused growth equity firm Updata Partners is nearing its goal for its latest fund, exceeding its original target by almost nine figures, according to a recent Securities and Exchange Commission filing.
For its seventh fund, Updata Partners reported raising $590.25 million of its $600 million goal, per an SEC document filed March 21. That's amended from a Feb. 3 filing that indicated that the D.C. venture firm had originally intended to raise $500 million this time around.
This would be the firm's biggest funding pool thus far. It comes about a year and a half after Updata closed on its most recent fund, for which it raised $308 million, according to a PitchBook estimate. Before that, it closed on a $280 million fund about six years ago. In all, the company has raised more than $1 billion in committed capital and has invested in more than 60 tech companies in its more than two-decade-long history, according to its website.
Updata did not respond to a request for comment. SEC rules generally don't allow venture firms to comment publicly on funds that they are actively raising.
While Updata has previously invested in local companies such as Arlington's Storyblocks, an inventory of video and audio images, and Bethesda real estate platform Homesnap Inc., its current portfolio is composed of companies outside of the region, including London's Glassbox and Adthena, Piano of New York, Uberflip of Toronto, Jellyvision of Chicago and Liongard of Houston.
Last month, the company’s sixth fund led a $20 million Series A investment for U.K. identify verification company Shufti Pro. Updata Partner Braden Snyder, who was promoted in January after eight years with the company, will join the board as part of that investment, the firm said.
Updata is led by Carter Griffin — who previously co-founded Brivo Systems and also serves on the boards of the tech CEO forum Mindshare and the Mid-Atlantic Venture Association — and Jon Seeber, who previously worked at IBM Global Services and is on the board of directors for the Washington Nationals Philanthropies. Both are general partners at the firm.
Locally, it was part of a vast fundraising spree that saw many venture firms start or close on new funding vehicles. Accolade Partners LP has indicated plans to raise new funds, per SEC filings, while Camber Creek has just closed on its fourth fund at $325 million. D.C. venture firm Revolution, one of the region's largest venture brands, had said in late 2020 that it was raising $500 million for its fourth fund, and it has yet to file any documents with the SEC to indicate where that stands.
It's reflected a wildly active year for fundraising, not just for the investors, but also for the companies that are the beneficiaries. In 2021 alone, $329.9 billion in venture capital was invested across about 17,054 deals nationwide, according to a recent report from PitchBook and the National Venture Capital Association, along with Insperity. Of that, the D.C. region counted 415 venture deals, about a 119% increase from 2020, according to the latest PitchBook-NVCA Venture Monitor report. Those investments came out to a record $5.7 billion, more than 200% growth year-over-year.
