Billionaire entrepreneur and Business Journal OC 50 influencer Vinny Smith (see related stories, this page and page 8) continues to grow and diversify Orange County’s largest venture capital fund, which recently posted a big win with a local initial public offering and is primed for a few more sizeable exits this year.
The evergreen fund managed by his Newport Beach-based VC firm, Toba Capital, has grown to $800 million, with about $600 million invested. That’s up $200 million on both counts since the Business Journal caught up with Smith about a year ago at his Newport Beach home.
He launched Toba in late 2012 with former colleagues at Quest Software after his Aliso Viejo-based company was taken private in a $2.8 billion acquisition by Dell Inc., netting him nearly $1 billion.
Alteryx IPO
The firm recently notched a public exit in its expanding portfolio when Irvine-based analytics software maker Alteryx Inc. raised $145 million in a March IPO.
Toba holds a 6% stake in Alteryx through $6 million in investments. Another $2 million came from Smith’s Teach a Man to Fish Foundation. Alteryx, which was founded by fellow OC 50er Dean Stoecker, had a market value last week of about $900 million.
“Alteryx has a bright future,” Toba partner Matthew Gless told the Business Journal. “They are unmatched in their ability to deliver robust data prep, blending and analytical solutions in the marketplace. We remain long-term holders.”
The IPO snapped a nearly two-year drought in OC. Laguna Hills medical technology company Glaukos Corp. raised about $188 million in June 2015. Before that, the last tech-related IPO was in December 2013 when Irvine-based Kofax Ltd. raised $11 million after years on the London Stock Exchange.
The Alteryx IPO was at least Toba’s second investment that’s gone public since Smith launched the firm. Toba put about $10 million in a late-stage investment in MobileIron Inc. before the company raised roughly $100 million in an IPO about three years ago. The Mountain View-based security software maker specializes in protecting data accessed by companies’ employees on smartphones.
Smith also acted as an adviser during its IPO process.
Software-Heavy
The Alteryx investment is one of 45 active software companies in Toba’s portfolio, which also includes Newport Beach-based virtual reality content maker NextVR, security software maker SecureAuth Corp. in Irvine and Costa Mesa-based business website and social media services provider MoPro.
The VC firm initiated 15 new or follow-on investments in the software segment in the past year in such companies as San Juan Capistrano-based Cirro; San Francisco startup Clover Health; Los Angeles-based fundraising website service provider Funraise; Rocana Inc. in San Francisco; and SmartZip Analytics Inc., a Pleasanton-based provider of productivity tools for real estate professionals, brokers and lenders to optimize sales.
A strategic equity investment from Toba in March helped SmartZip acquire Reach150, a Los Altos-based referral management platform developer and Toba portfolio company.
“The company is set up for a bright future,” Gless said of SmartZip. “Its software platform, SmartTargeting, delivers the intelligence and automation necessary to identify and win more listings.”
Toba’s portfolio includes about 20 nonsoftware investments, including a recent infusion into EQ Entertainment LLC, a musical artists promoter in Texas.
More to Come
The Reach150 sale could be the first of a few Toba aims to clear in the coming weeks, Smith told the Business Journal. The company is shopping a business it says should draw several hundred million dollars from prospective buyers, and a cloud software company eyed by a major industry player that wants to develop its own big IT strategy, according to Smith.
