Identifying B2B as “the sexy market,” Battery has started two new funds to invest in B2B software, information infrastructure and cybersecurity.

(Bloomberg) Battery Ventures raised two new funds totaling $2 billion, almost double its last total and highlighting investors’ growing interest in companies that cater to other businesses, rather than consumers.

We have always thought of B2B as the sexy market.
Michael Brown, general partner
Battery Ventures

The new funds, a $1.2 billion Battery Ventures XIII, along with an $800 million side fund to help back extra-large bets, will keep investing in sectors like business-to-business software, information infrastructure and cybersecurity.

MichaelBrown-BatteryVentures

Michael Brown, general partner, Battery Ventures

“We have always thought of B2B as the sexy market,” said general partner Michael Brown, in a gentle dig at the venture firms better known for consumer investments that are now beefing up their enterprise portfolio. “For us, it’s more of the same.”

Battery’s successes include tax-compliance software maker Avalara Inc., which first received an investment in 2012. Its shares are now trading at around $90, almost four times the level of its June 2018 initial public offering. Other B2B companies Battery has invested in include Coupa Software, a provider of procurement and spend management technology; Callidus Software, a provider of configure-price-quote software acquired by SAP SE; and 6sense, a provider of account-based marketing technology.

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Several of Battery’s portfolio companies were also acquired by bigger companies or private equity firms, including WebPT, a provider of web-based medical records systems; ClearCare, a provider of software for home healthcare agencies; and Glassdoor, an online job-search and employment information service.

The transactions helped lift interest in enterprise overall, along with the performance of Battery’s funds. Fund IX, which dates from 2010 and held investments in some of the recently exited portfolio companies, has an annual internal rate of return of 26%, according to Bloomberg data.

Battery hasn’t entirely escaped the malaise hanging over some consumer companies. It is an investor in Wag Labs Inc., a troubled dog-walking company. Some of its other retail businesses appear to have more momentum, such as StockX, a sneaker-trading marketplace.

The firm last raised two funds totaling $1.25 billion in February 2018.

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