Canaan Raises $600 Million Fund for Technology, Health Care Investments

Canaan Partners, a global venture fund with $3.5 billion under management, has raised $600 million to invest in technology and health-care companies.

Canaan, based in Menlo Park, California, will spend two- thirds of the fund on digital media, Internet, mobile and other technology companies, and a third is designated for pharmaceutical, medical device and health-care investments, the company said today in a statement.

This is Canaan’s ninth fund. Previous investments included Advanced BioHealing Inc., maker of Dermagraft, a bio-engineered skin substitute used to treat diabetic foot ulcers, which was acquired by Shire Plc in May for $750 million, and flash storage maker SandForce Inc., was acquired by LSI Corp. for $370M earlier this month.

Almost 40 U.S. venture capital funds raised $5.6 billion in the fourth quarter of 2011, a 162 percent increase from the previous quarter, the National Venture Capital Association said today in a statement.

To contact the reporter on this story: Ryan Flinn in San Francisco at rflinn@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Reg Gale at rgale5@bloomberg.net