Highland Capital Partners is a global venture capital firm with offices in Silicon Valley, Boston, New York, and San Francisco. Highland has raised over $3 billion in committed capital and invested in more than 225 companies.[citation needed]
 | |
| Company type | LLC |
|---|---|
| Industry | Private Equity |
| Founded | 1988 |
| Founder | William J. Boyce, Paul Maeder, Bob Higgins |
| Headquarters | Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States |
| Products | Investments, Venture capital |
| Website | www.hcp.com |
History
Investments and investment funds
Highland is typically the first institutional investor in the companies they back.[1]
From inception in 1988 to today, the firm has raised ten venture capital funds with aggregate investor commitments of approximately $3.5 billion:
- 1988 — Highland Capital Partners ($78 million)
- 1992 — Highland Capital Partners II ($86 million)
- 1996 — Highland Capital Partners III ($126 million)
- 1998 — Highland Capital Partners IV ($250 million)
- 2000 — Highland Capital Partners V ($505 million)
- 2001 — Highland Capital Partners VI ($808 million)
- 2006 — Highland Capital Partners VII ($808 million)
- 2009 — Highland Capital Partners VIII ($408 million)
- 2013 — Highland Capital Partners IX ($410 million)
- 2018 - Highland Capital Partners X
Notable investments
The company has invested some $3 billion in more than 225 companies since its founding including 2U, Auris Health, Bromium, Carbon Black, Clearbanc, Everlywell, Farewill, Gigamon, Handy, Harry's, LevelUp, Lululemon Athletica, Lycos, Malwarebytes, MapQuest, Qihoo 360, Quattro Wireless, Rent the Runway, Scopely, Sybase, Thred Up, Turbonomic and VistaPrint[2]. This has resulted in 46 IPOs, 129 acquisitions, and 19 companies with values over $1 billion.
Current and former employees
In February 2005, Thomas G. Stemberg, the founder and former CEO of Staples joined Highland.[3] Other notable members of the team include Bob Davis, the founder of Lycos; Peter Bell the co-founder and CEO of information storage software company StorageNetworks; Andy Miller, the co-founder of Quattro Wireless (acquired by Apple Computer in 2009), and most recently the Vice President Mobile Advertising responsible for the iAd team; and Wycliffe Grousbeck, who reduced his role in Highland to become managing partner and co-owner of the Boston Celtics. A recent addition to the Highland team is James Cash, Jr., who has served on eighteen public company boards - currently Walmart, General Electric and Chubb Corporation. In 2017, Highland Capital Partners won the 2017 NEVY Award for Fund of the year.
Other
Highland Capital Partners is not affiliated with Highland Capital Management, the multibillion-dollar distressed investment firm, hedge fund sponsor, and mutual fund manager based in Dallas, Texas.
References
- The Rebirth of Venture Capitalism. New York Times, September 24, 2006
- COMPANY NEWS; STAPLES NAMES ITS CHIEF AS CHAIRMAN. New York Times, March 12, 2005