NEA Announces Two New Funds Totaling $6.2B

Venture giant New Enterprise Associates announced Thursday it has closed on approximately $6.2 billion across two funds.

The firm, known for investments in transformational startups like Salesforce 1, Workday and Robinhood, said one fund will be dedicated to early-stage investing and the other to venture growth-stage opportunities.

NEA will invest in a range of different ​​technology and health care sectors — including both enterprise and consumer technology, digital health, and life sciences.

The firm had more than $25 billion of assets under management as of the end of 2022.

“We are deeply grateful to our limited partners for the trust they have placed in our team, and excited to have raised the largest pool of capital in NEA’s history at a time of great uncertainty, but also tremendous opportunity,” said Scott Sandell, managing general partner at NEA.

A long history

Founded in 1977, NEA is one of the oldest VC firms in the country. The firm has had more than 270 portfolio company IPOs and over 450 mergers and acquisition events.

Just in the last several months, NEA has participated in rounds worth $100 million or more for companies such as Escient Pharmaceuticals, MBX Biosciences and Swift Navigation.

The announcement comes at a time when many in the industry believe fund managers may have a hard time raising new funds as limited partners and institutions try to avoid risk and rebalance their portfolios after the beating many public tech stocks have taken.

However, such an environment is likely to favor more established firms such as NEA and those who have a proven track record.

Just last week, another seasoned firm,  Sequoia, announced a new $195 million fund for seed-stage startups, according to Forbes.

Further reading:

A Look At New Enterprise Associates As It Picks Up The Pace In 2022

Illustration: Dom Guzman

Learn More