Centennial Ventures raises $341.1 million in capital funds

Thursday, March 14, 2002 – Denver-based Centennial Ventures has raised
$341.1 million from investors despite a tough market for venture capital,
particularly with telecommunications investments.

By Aldo Svaldi
Denver Post Business Writer

Centennial announced Wednesday that it had closed its newest venture
capital pool, Centennial Ventures VII LP.

The last pool raised by the firm closed in 1999.

"It did take us longer to raise funds than we had hoped," said Adam
Goldman, a managing director at the firm. "It is a very difficult market out
there for venture capital."

Goldman said Centennial’s initial goal was to raise $400 million for the
fund, which will invest primarily in telecommunications service companies.

Getting partners to pony up money for new venture funds has become much
tougher.

In 2000, venture firms raised $104 billion from partners. In 2001, that
number dropped to $40 billion. This year, firms are expected to raise $20
billion to $40 billion.

"If you don’t have any money now, it is virtually impossible to raise it unless
you have been in the business for 20 years," Stewart Alsop, a general
partner at New Enterprise Associates, said last week at the Venture Capital
in the Rockies convention in Denver.

Centennial managed to bring back several earlier partners including the
Public Employees’s Retirement Association of Colorado, HarbourVest
Partners, Bessemer Trust Co., PNC Venture Corp., BCE, Norwest Equity
Capital, General Electric Capital, Colorado Fire & Police Pension
Association and Houston Firefighters Relief and Retirement Fund.

New investors include CH2M Hill, Hermes USA Investors, Nortel Networks
and WestAM.

Centennial has made its first investment in Telephia, a San Francisco
telecom software and services company. Goldman said the fund will invest
in about 21 companies.

Denver Post reporter Jennifer Beauprez contributed to this report.

http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1002,33%257E460813,00.html