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Investment Practice Overview

At Bessemer, we spend a lot of time mapping out the industries most fertile for disruption by startups. With a deep focus in our practice areas, we can quickly evaluate new investment opportunities, and, more importantly, bring our knowledge, track record and rolodex to the boards of our portfolio companies.

Every year we re-assess and refresh our investment hypotheses (“road maps”), re-organizing our practices appropriately. So we do have additional practice areas in development, plus others that we just haven’t yet had time to profile here.

And of course we try to remain keenly aware of areas where innovation meets market need. We use our roadmaps as guides, not limits, and stay open to the next revolutionary idea.

Here are some of the practice areas where our professionals team up to find, fund and assist the entrepreneurs poised to shake things up. If you share one of these areas of interest with us, please click on that practice to read about some of our thoughts and activities there.

 

  Cleantech
Cleantech BVP's interest in more-efficient production methods dates to its founder's application of the Bessemer process to steel making, which reduced the time required to refine iron into steel from days to minutes. In the Cleantech practice, BVP's investors combine their backgrounds in process engineering, waste recycling, semiconductors and consulting to help young companies deliver the innovative technologies essential to meet the world's growing need for environmentally friendly products and services. The portfolio now includes companies from around the globe providing a diverse set of solutions; from creating high-performance and environmentally green batteries to generating power from rice by-products.
 

 

Data Security
Data Security Bessemer’s investment practice in data security ranks among our most successful, and we’re proud to have funded more leading innovators in data security than any other venture capital firm (as far as we know). At last count we’ve made 23 investments that have led to five IPOs and ten acquisitions by public companies. At the time of we exited these investments, they accounted for over thirty billion dollars of enterprise value and nearly 20,000 jobs.
 

 

Financial Services
Financial Services BVP has a long history of investment in the financial services. The 1970s saw it investing in bank services roll-ups; thereafter it moved into areas as diverse as investment services (Quadriserve, LifeHarbor, Gerson Lehrman, Motilal Oswal and Soleil) and personal banking (BillShrink, Shriram City Financial, and Zopa). Blending technology and financial expertise and experience, the partners at BVP can understand and anticipate the changes occur in this rapidly evolving sector.
 

 

Healthcare
Healthcare BVP has invested in healthcare-related companies for more than two decades. Drawing on our investors’ experience in medicine, science, information technology, and management, BVP has backed developers of innovative therapeutics - Isis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ISIP) and Sirtris (NASDAQ:SIRT); providers of healthcare service - VistaCare (NASDAQ:VSTA) and U.S. Behavioral Health (acquired by United Healthcare, NYSE:UBH); and suppliers of healthcare information technology - GMIS (NASDAQ:GMIS) and Allscripts (NASDAQ:MDRX). As the world's healthcare needs increase, we relish the opportunity to support entrepreneurs who will create the innovations of tomorrow.
 

 

India
India India's vibrant economy offers huge potential in fulfilling demand for both domestic and export consumption. Just as BVP saw the long term opportunity when it entered Silicon Valley in the 1970s, the firm sees a similar opportunity in India driven by the growth in middle class prosperity and innovation. BVP's investment team combines local knowledge and technical expertise with a global platform to help guide portfolio copmaines to global success. Since 2004, BVP has invested in 21 companies and established a 14-person Mumbai-based team.
 

 

Israel
Israel BVP has been investing in Israel since 1992 and opened an office in Herzliya in 2007. The partners consider companies at many stages, from seed to growth, and across a number of sectors - Software, Internet, Semiconductors, Storage, Business Services, Communications, and Cleantech.
 

 

Online Retail
Online Retail

BVP has participated in each successive wave of innovation in retail since the mid-1980s, starting with our investments in big box retailers, Staples and The Sports Authority. In the late 1990s, we funded several first generation Internet retailers such as Blue Nile and eToys. Today, we are looking to invest in Internet retailers targeting segments large enough to sustain a meaningful new consumer brand. Our portfolio company Diapers.com is a leading example of an emerging category killer. We also believe there are opportunities to help existing off-line brands leverage the Internet as a powerful distribution channel. Our investments in Delivery Agent and OneStop Internet are consistent with this theme.
 

 

SaaS
SaaS

In addition to Bessemer's long history of successful enterprise software investing, we have been particularly focused on the emergence of Software as a Service (SaaS). We believe SaaS is the most important trend in the software industry of the decade. We have been fortunate to work with many of the early pioneers in this high growth market segment, and continue to invest actively to grow our current portfolio.

Bessemer's deep focus in our practice areas allows us to evaluate new investment opportunities quickly and bring our knowledge, track record and rolodex to the boards of our portfolio companies.

BVP's interest in more efficient production methods dates to its founder's application of the Bessemer process to steel making. BVP's Cleantech  investors combine their diverse backgrounds to help young companies deliver the innovations essential to meet the world's growing need for environmentally friendly products and services.

Bessemer’s investment practice in data security ranks among our most successful, and we’re proud to have funded more leading innovators in data security than any other venture capital firm (as far as we know).

With expertise and experience in financial services and technology, the partners at BVP can understand and anticipate the changes occur in the rapidly evolving sector financial services sector.

BVP has invested in healthcare-related companies since the early 1980s. Drawing on our investors’ experience in medicine, science, information technology, and management, BVP has backed developers of innovative therapeutics, providers of healthcare services, and suppliers of healthcare information technology. As the world's healthcare needs increase, we relish the opportunity to support entrepreneurs who will create the innovations of tomorrow.

India Practice Overview India's vibrant economy offers huge potential in the growing demand for both domestic and export consumption. Just as BVP saw the long term opportunity when it entered Silicon Valley in the 1970s, we see a similar opportunity in India driven by the growth in middle class prosp

BVP has participated in each successive wave of innovation in retail since the mid-1980s, starting with our investments in big box retailers, Staples and The Sports Authority.  In the late 1990s, we funded several first generation Internet retailers such as Blue Nile and eToys.  Today, we are actively seeking entrepreneurs who share our excitement for the long-term growth of Internet retail and an appreciation for the key challenges of building an online brand.

BVP opened an office in Herzliya in 2007 and seeks to contribute to Israel's rich heritage of technological innovation.

Bessemer's long history of successful enterprise software investing alerted us to the emergence of Software as a Service (SaaS). We have been fortunate to work with many of the early pioneers in this high growth market segment, and continue to invest actively in it.