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Largest Houston-Area Venture Capital Firms
January 2008
(ranked by Capital Under Management)

Rank	Firm Name	Capital Under Manage ment	# of Investments in 2007	Minimum Investment/ Preferred Amount/ Maximum Investment	Levels of Investment	Preferred Industries	Top Local Executive
1	Essex Woodlands Health Ventures 21 Waterway Ave., Suite 225, The Woodlands, 77380 # 281-364-1555 http://www.ewhv.com	$1.6 billion/ DND	27/ $242 million	$1 million/ $10 million/ $50 million	start-up, first-stage expansion, second-stage expansion, third-stage expansion, mezzanine	health care	Martin P. Sutter, managing director/ New York/ 1984
2	Vanguard Ventures 1330 Post Oak Blvd., Suite 1550, Houston 77056 # 713-877-1662 http://www.vanguardventures.com	$400 million/ institutions, individuals	16/ $19.6 million	$500,000/ $5 million/ $10 million	start-up, first-stage expansion	high-tech, medical devices	Bob Ulrich, managing member/ Palo Alto, Calif./ 1984
3	PTV Sciences 221 W. 6th St., Suite 700, Austin 78701 # 512-542-0010 http://www.ptvsciences.com	$191 million/ DND	DND	$1 million/ DND/ $8 million	DND	biotechnology	Evan Melrose MD and Matthew S. Crawford, managing directors/ Austin/2007
4	Sternhill Partners 777 Post Oak Blvd., Suite 250 Houston, TX 77056 # 713-622-2727 www.sternhillpartners.com	$100 million/ N/A	DND	DND	start-up	information technology equipment, software, telecommunication	Robert Stearns and Marc Gellar, managing directors/ Houston/1999
5	SMH Private Equity Group 600 Travis, Suite 300 Houston 77025 # 713-224-3100 http://www.smhpeg.com	$74 million/ N/A	7/ $8.2 million	$500,000/ $1.5 million to $2 million/ N/A	first, second and third-stage expansion, purchase/secondary positions, buyout or acquisition	IT (enterprise software, hardware, data networking, telecommunications), energy (oil & gas), health care	Charles L. Davis IV, managing director/ Houston/2004
6	Texas Ventures (formerly Aegis Capital Group) 1800 W. Loop South, Suite 475 Houston 77027 # 713-599-1300 http://www.texasventures.com	$50 million/ private investors	5/ DND	$100,000/ DND/ $3 million	first-stage expansion, second-stage expansion, mezzanine, purchase/secondary positions, buyout or acquisition	capital efficient technology and technology-enabled businesses	Scott Crist, managing partner/ Houston/1999
7	DFJ Mercury 1 Greenway Plaza, Suite 860 Houston 77046 # 713-715-6820 http://www.dfjmercury.com	$21 million/ DND	14/ $4.5 million	$100,000/ $500,000/ $1 million	seed money, start-up	information technology, life sciences, clean tech	Blair Garrou and Dan Watkins, managing directors/ Houston/2005

List source: Houston Business Journal