Law360 is providing free access to its coronavirus coverage to make sure all members of the legal community have accurate information in this time of uncertainty and change. Use the form below to sign up for any of our weekly newsletters. Signing up for any of our section newsletters will opt you in to the weekly Coronavirus briefing.
Sign up for our Private Equity newsletter
You must correct or enter the following before you can sign up:
Thank You!
Law360 (April 10, 2020, 3:55 PM EDT) -- Venture capital firm Index Ventures said it has created a $2 billion fund to help it continue supporting growing businesses even during the ongoing novel coronavirus pandemic.
Index said in a blog post Thursday that it believes such funding is important during the deadly COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting economic fallout.
"Innovation is often born out of adversity, and we have no doubt that the vision of future founders will be critical to the world's social and economic recovery," according to the post.
"As we adjust to absorb and mitigate the devastating human impact of the pandemic, we count on their leadership and inspiration," it said.
The post was short on details regarding other aspects of the fund, such as if it will focus on any particular type of company, and Index identified its investors for the fund only as research groups, universities, medical institutes and pension funds.
On Wednesday, startup SafetyCulture said it raised more than $35 million in a funding round that included Index Ventures to help it continue developing its safety checklist app for workplaces.
According to its website, Index has invested in more than 100 companies, including digital health care app KRY, fintech company Plaid, which was acquired by Visa in January, Berlin-based savings and investment marketplace Raisin and analytics company Datadog Inc., which raised $648 million in a September initial public offering.
A spokesperson for Index did not immediately respond to a request for further comment.
Index Ventures was represented by a Ropes & Gray LLP team including Morri Weinberg, Elaine Murphy, Ama Adams, Mark Sugino, Michael Jurasic, Seth Piken, Robert Rossi, Stephanie Ragland, Zakk Wedemeyer, Alexa Voskerichian, Emerson Siegle and Aaron Lichter.
--Additional reporting by Tom Zanki and Philip Rosenstein. Editing by Orlando Lorenzo.
Update: This article has been updated with counsel information for Index Ventures.
For a reprint of this article, please contact reprints@law360.com.
