Venture Capital & Health Care Journal

Prospect Management Co., LLC, Palo Alto (Prospect Ventures), has closed its debut fund at $100 million, which is $25 million above target.

Prospect Venture Partners’ partners, Alexander E. Barkas and Dr. David Schnell, last year left Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers, Menlo Park, to create an investment firm with an exclusive focus on health care. Health care accounts for only about a quarter of KPCB’s investments. The Prospect partners expect to add a third partner within the next 12 months.

Prospect [Venture Partners] is looking at all health care segments, but it’s concentrating on target validation for genomic platform companies, early-stage medical devices and information services in health care. It will make both early- and late-stage investments.

So far, the firm has made two investments: Health Systems Technologies, Inc., a Seattle developer of software for managed care, and TherOx, Inc., a Costa Mesa, Calif., developer of minimally invasive products for the delivery of super-saturated oxygen solutions to oxygen-deprived (ischemic) tissue. Mr. Barkas and Dr. Schnell were familiar with the companies from investments in them by KPCB.

On average, Prospect [Venture Partners] will invest $3 million to $5 million per company.