New Enterprise Associates came $60 million short of raising the largest venture capital fund ever when it said today it has closed its twelth fund at $2.5 billion. That trails Oak Investment Partners's $2.56 billion fund closing last month, but only by choice. NEA managing general partner Peter Barris said, "We were way oversubscribed with our current LP group."

Now, I don't consider either of those firms true venture capital firms. They're hybrids that participate in private equity just as much as venture capital. They increasingly participate in later stage deals requiring lots of capital at the expense of early stage deals. But, the two closings show the high demand for this hybrid model of investment from limited partners.

NEA has had an impessive past six months. The Deal's Paul Bonanos wrote today:

The firm's track record has been strong during the first six months of 2006. Barris said NEA has achieved exits from 10 companies through mergers and acquisitions, while five more of its portfolio companies have gone public. Another five have filed for IPOs, and "four or five more" are targets of pending acquisitions, according to Barris.

Barris also said NEA has invested $200 million in China so far and will open an office in India soon. It's good to hear that NEA will direct an increasing percentage of money overseas because with so much cash being raised by Silicon Valley venture firms, it's inevitable for valuations to rise there, leading to shoddy returns for all but the best shops.

For more on NEA's mega-fundraising, see:
The Deal
Silicon Beat
NEA's press releases

Tags: nea, vc, venture capital