Norwest Enterprise Companions, a 65-year-old agency backed solely by Wells Fargo, has raised its seventeenth fund at $3 billion.

That’s a noteworthy quantity, on condition that NVP final raised the identical quantity in December 2021. That was the height of the enterprise growth, and at the moment, the agency stated it elevated its capital pool by 50% (NVP’s 2019 fund closed at $2 billion) as a result of it wanted to remain aggressive within the dealmaking atmosphere the place spherical sizes and valuations have climbed to unprecedented ranges.

However issues have clearly modified since then. Traders are backing fewer corporations, and valuations have dropped and should fall additional.

Jeff Crowe, a senior managing associate, admitted that the funding price in enterprise and sure sectors is slower than it was a number of years in the past, however he stated that dealmaking in sure methods, sectors and geographies, corresponding to progress fairness, healthcare and India, is as strong because it was earlier than the downturn.

“We’ve stored a really regular tempo and have delivered a lot of good exits,” Crowe instructed TechCrunch. “We felt it is sensible to maintain going on the identical tempo.”

Since closing its earlier fund, the agency has helped 36 corporations understand liquidity. Not all exits had been nice outcomes for the agency (NVP’s portfolio firm VanMoof filed for chapter safety), however returns from sure exits tremendously outweighed the losses, in response to Crowe. He pointed to the agency’s sale of Spiff to Salesforce, the buyout of Avetta by EQT for a reported $3 billion and the IPO of Indian-based 5 Star Enterprise Finance.

Crowe declined to touch upon returns, however stated: “That is fund 17. We’ve been doing this for a very long time, and within the enterprise world, you get to remain in enterprise for those who ship actually good returns.”

NVP attributes a lot of its success to working out of 1 massive international multi-strategy fund. The agency invests in North America, India and Israel. It has an early-stage and progress fairness enterprise, and has not too long ago added a biotech staff to spherical out its present healthcare observe.

The diversified strategy permits the agency to regulate its technique when the market modifications. As an example, NVP deliberate to spend money on crypto corporations when it raised its final fund, however the sector fell out of favor shortly after that, and the agency didn’t pursue many offers within the area.   

“Our diversified technique works properly via ups and downs of funding cycles,” Crowe stated.  “It provides us flexibility. That’s the fantastic thing about it. We react sooner to modifications.”