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announced today it has closed on TCV X, a new $3 billion fund that will focus on tech investments in consumer internet, software, and IT infra companies. The fund marks TCV’s largest yet.

I hopped on the phone with , COO and general partner at TCV, to understand more about what this means. First, he emphasized that future TCV investments will not be exclusive to the above, and will instead land 鈥渁cross the entire tech landscape.鈥�

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He also told me that Menlo Park-based TCV plans to start investing out of the new fund this quarter, and overall, it鈥檚 looking to make 鈥渟omewhere between 20 and 25 investments鈥� out of the fund. Doing that math, that鈥檚 an average aggregate investment of $120 million to $150 million. It鈥檚 important to note that while the 鈥渧ast majority鈥� of TCV鈥檚 portfolio companies are private, the firm also invests in public companies.

And it鈥檚 not just looking at Silicon Valley.

Historically, three-quarters of TCV鈥檚 investments have been made out of Silicon Valley (in terms of the number of companies invested in, not dollars deployed) since its inception in 1995, according to the firm. And it鈥檚 looking to continue that strategy.

鈥淲hile we were founded in Silicon Valley, have headquarters here and a lot of successful investments in Silicon Valley, we spend a lot of time looking for great companies outside of Silicon Valley,鈥� Sanders told 附近上门 News. 鈥淚n today鈥檚 environment, Silicon Valley isn鈥檛 the only place to build a great company. There鈥檚 a lot of talented entrepreneurs outside of a tech hub trying to build a great tech company.鈥�

TCV doesn鈥檛 want to play a passive role.

鈥淲e鈥檙e looking to at making scale investments,鈥� Sanders said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e looking to be active partners with a company that also is looking to scale.鈥�

Besides the desire to scale, I asked Sanders what other criteria is TCV looking for in an investment. His answer was threefold:

• Market segment. 鈥淲e ask if this is a segment of the market we are really interested in, specifically, 鈥業s there an identifiable trend that is driving disruption and growth?鈥欌��
• Market position. 鈥淲e also ask, 鈥業s this company a leader or, in most cases, the leader in a space?鈥� We鈥檙e looking to invest in and back those companies that have a leading market position.鈥�
• Willingness to partner. Sanders said TCV seeks to be 鈥渁n active capital partner鈥� that will help firms with expertise and skills to help them grow as well as to provide capital.

Sanders also shared details of the firm鈥檚 鈥渇lexible model鈥� of investing. For example, it can provide what he described as primary capital, where a company might be looking to take cash to fund growth. Or, it can also make secondary investments, such as buying shares from a founder or prior investor.

Looking back briefly, Sanders noted that 2018 was a robust year for TCV. The firm saw two exits last year in Sweden鈥檚 and Seattle-based software firm , for example.

鈥淲e measure outcomes by the attractiveness of new investment opportunities, how our existing portfolio companies are growing and our ability to generate liquid for our investors in the form of realized returns,鈥� Sanders told 附近上门 News. 鈥淎cross all three of our dimensions, 2018 was a very good year.鈥�

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