http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/15/technology/sapphire-raises-1-billion-for-investment-in-start-ups.html 2016-09-14 18:38:45 Sapphire Raises $1 Billion for Investment in Start-Ups The fund eases some fears about a downturn in the venture capital industry. === Sapphire Ventures has closed on a $1 billion fund to invest in privately held start-ups, easing fears about a downturn in the venture capital industry. Sapphire Ventures, a venture capital firm in Palo Alto, Calif., with more than $2.4 billion in assets under management, has only one investor, the business software maker SAP. Sapphire Ventures was the corporate venture arm of SAP, and it has operated as a stand-alone firm since 2011. For the last year, investors have worried that the venture industry had become overheated and that there would be a freeze in fund-raising. But like Sapphire Ventures, several firms have raised more than $1 billion this year, giving them firepower to write big checks for start-ups, whose valuations peaked around the end of 2015. Last month, Technology Crossover Ventures announced In the United States alone, the venture industry raised Sapphire Ventures invests in start-ups that are past their earliest stages, and 38 of the companies that it has put money into went public or were sold since 2011, including the online storage company Box, the wearables maker Fitbit and the mobile payments company Square. “At end of day you can build a great business, but exiting and making money for your investors is just as important,” said Nino Marakovic, chief executive and managing director of Sapphire Ventures. Sapphire Ventures also invests in other venture firms. Mr. Marakovic said that many venture firms scrambled to raise money this year as public markets dipped. “Everyone was afraid the music would stop,” he said. “They raised in anticipation of a downturn.”