Japan-headquartered telecommunications group NTT has raised $500m for a US-based corporate venturing fund, according to a regulatory filing earlier this week.
The fund, NTT Venture Capital, is helmed by Vab Goel, who is still listed as a general partner at Norwest Venture Partners, the VC firm entirely funded by financial services firm Wells Fargo.
Goel’s speciality areas include mobile, cloud, networking, security and internet technology. His investments at Norwest, which he joined in 2000, include cloud networking and security software provider Virtela, which was acquired by NTT for $525m in 2013.
The fund was initially announced by NTT in August this year, at which time the firm said it would concentrate on global innovation and digital technology. Its capital was supplied by two partners, according to the filing.
NTT already makes investments through NTT Docomo Ventures, which operates as a subsidiary of its mobile division, NTT Docomo, and has formed three separate funds under the NTT Investment Partners banner which were equipped with a total of ¥45bn ($400m).
NTT Docomo Ventures is based in Japan but opened a US office in Silicon Valley in February 2017 and manages a $100m US fund called Docomo Capital that is overseen by managing director Neil Sadaranganey.
US investments made by NTT include identity management software provider Centrify, which was majority acquired by Thoma Bravo in July 2018. It is unclear whether Docomo Capital will collaborate with the new fund, which is operating out of a different Silicon Valley address.
