Correlation Ventures, a San Diego-based venture capital firm, announced Jan. 17 the closing of an initial $165 million VC fund. This marks one of the largest new funds to be launched in San Diego in some time, according to David Coats, managing director and founder of Correlation Ventures.
“We spent five years building the largest database of venture capital outcomes, analyzing more than 50,000 U.S. venture financings going back to 1987, which is estimated to represent more than 98 percent of all U.S. VC financings since that time, ” Coats said. “What’s unique about it is that we were able to correlate the successes and failures of these companies, which has now enabled us to make rapid-fire decisions. We can make a decision in weeks, rather than months, eliminating the need to repeat classic due diligence. The firm simply needs to provide us with a handful of readily available documents.”
Correlation Ventures says it has 13 companies in its portfolio, with plans to create a portfolio of more than 50 U.S. private companies. Correlation’s most recent investment is in early stage financing for La Jolla-based RQx Pharmaceuticals Inc., which has developed a broad-spectrum antibiotic.
— Stephanie R. Glidden
