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VC raises funds!

January 13, 2009

Balderton Capital, the UK venture capital group that backed the Betfair gambling website and Setanta, the pay-TV broadcaster, has defied the gloom in financial markets saying it has raised £282m (E358m) for technology and media investments.

Founded in 2000 as the London-based arm of Benchmark Capital, the Silicon Valley venture capital group, Balderton has become one of Europe's top start-up investors with $2bn of funds. The company spun off from its US parent in 2007. Barry Maloney, general partner of Balderton, said there were "significant difficulties" in the fundraising market for private equity. But he said his firm had raised the lion's share of its $500m target in just two months thanks to a strong record.

Maloney told the Financial Times there were unlikely to be any venture capital-backed initial public offerings for 18-24 months and the climate could cause "some casualties" in Balderton's portfolio of about 80 investments. But he said the downturn was also a better time to invest. "We are about to enter a very interesting time for new investments, if not for exits.

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