San Francisco Business Times (Online), Tuesday, April 3, 2001, by Mark Calvey

Walden International, a San Francisco venture firm, announced Monday that it has closed a $1 billion fund to finance seed and early-stage investments in technology companies in the United States and Asia.

The new fund, Pacven Walden Ventures V L.P., will focus on a broad cross-section of technology, including communications, software, Internet, semiconductors, electronics and life sciences.

The firm has attracted a high-profile list of limited partners, including Harvard Management Co., Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Verizon.

Strategic investors including Adaptec, AOL Time Warner Ventures, CSFB, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, Robertson Stephen's Bayview 2000 LP and Sumitomo.

"Today's economic slowdown creates excellent opportunities for early-stage investing," said Lip-Bu Tan, Walden's executive chairman. "We expect to see a return to more reasonable valuations within realistic timeframes, making this the ideal environment to identify and invest in solid companies with long-term growth potential."