Ron Conway's SV Angel raises its first growth fund

SV Angel, the venture capital firm known for early bets on companies like Airbnb and Slack, has raised $269 million for its first-ever growth equity fund.

Why it matters: It's something of a strategy shift for the seed-focused firm, which previously used special purpose vehicles (SPVs) to invest in later-stage deals.

• It's also a reversal of SV Angel's 2018 pledge to stop raising money from outside investors, as much of the growth fund comes from SV Angel founders and family offices, although no institutional investors were included.

Details: The new fund will be led by Ashvin Bachireddy, who previously co-founded Geodesic Capital.

• Deal sizes are expected to be between $5 million and $20 million, usually in Series B or Series C rounds.
• It began warehousing deals late last year, including rounds for Vercel, Airbye and BetterUp.
• "A goal of this fund is to take the DNA of the seed fund and bring it to the growth stage," says SV Angel's Topher Conway. "We don't lead rounds, we collaborate and don't want to crowd anyone out."

Also: SV Angel promoted Beth Turner to lead its seed fund, with Topher Conway and his father Ron overseeing both funds as co-managing directors.