US-based early-stage venture capital firm Aspect Ventures closed its second fund on Tuesday at $181m having raised capital from limited partners including networking equipment manufacturer Cisco.
Investment firm Knollwood Investments has also committed to the fund, as has Melinda Gates, co-chair of philanthropic organisation Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Aspect’s Fund II will invest in early-stage technology startups, following the model of the firm’s $150m Fund I, which was launched in 2015 to target sectors such as cybersecurity, digital health, autonomous driving and artificial intelligence.
Portfolio companies from the first fund include network security software provider ForeScout Technologies, which went public in a $100m initial public offering in October 2017 and which today has a market cap of almost $1.3bn.
Aspect Ventures announced the close at the same time as the appointment of Kendra Ragatz as general partner and chief operating officer, and the promotion of Lauren Kolodny to a partner position.
Janey Hoe, vice-president of corporate development at Cisco, said: “Aspect is a great investment for us, and we also love what the team represents: ‘diversity begets diversity.’
“Aspect’s diverse investing team and collaborative nature differentiates the firm from others in terms of its portfolio and its approach to working with entrepreneurs and investors alike.
“Aspect Venture’s shared focus on early stage cybersecurity innovations has been an added source of value to us.”