Cautious Investment Climate Not Slowing Insight Capital

Insight Capital Partners, which added $740 million to its coffers this week, joins a select group of venture capitalists that are raising mind-boggling sums despite the cautious investment climate. Unlike many other firms in that group, however, Insight isn't actively seeking partners for its deals and doesn't expect its pace of activity to slow.

Insight focuses on software that yields cost savings or boosts sales and is developed for a wide range of industries, from financial services to energy to manufacturing and supply-chain management. Large "companies are not going to stop buying productivity-enhancing software," says Bill Doyle, managing director. "IT budgets are going up and IT budgets are going down, but they're not going away."

In the next three years, Doyle expects Insight to make 10 to 12 new investments a year, averaging $20 million each. Candidates are those companies looking to make the jump from developing products to marketing and selling them. They may have just $2 million to $5 million in sales.

"When these companies are formed, it's by entrepreneurs who understand the business problems better than anyone else in the world," Doyle says. "They come from companies that ultimately become their customers."

Insight's most recent investment was in mid-March as the lead in a $24 million round of financing for Dorado Software, a network infrastructure software company.