SAP Ventures, the corporate venturing unit established by software producer SAP, rebranded itself yesterday as Sapphire Ventures.
Sapphire was spun off by SAP in 2011, though the corporate remains the firm’s sole limited partner. It has invested in more than 125 businesses, as well as funds, and currently has $1.4bn under management.
Nino Marakovic, CEO of Sapphire Ventures, said: “Sapphire Ventures will continue to draw on the powerful reach and resources of the SAP ecosystem, as we have done for nearly 20 years and which is evidenced by the clear reference to SAP in our new name.
“We are unequivocally focused on maintaining and strengthening our close relationship with SAP, but we are also pursuing ways to broaden our enterprise network to further our companies’ efforts to scale, maximise growth and become global category leaders.”
Sapphire raised $650m for its second growth stage fund last year, together with $250m for a fund-of-funds programme through which it invests in promising funds.
The capital injection and range of investment targets means Sapphire can fund early-stage companies and commit funding to larger rounds. It has also formed a market development team to assist portfolio companies in creating commercialisation and expansion plans.
Recent investments include data analytics company Alteryx, cloud security technology developer Ping Identity and logistics software provider Black Duck.