Bluerun Ventures raises initial $200M fund for consumer and mobile investments

BlueRun Ventures, the Silicon Valley venture capital firm that used to be backed by Nokia but which is now independent from that company, has raised an initial $200 million for its fourth fund.

This comes after having targeted a $350 million total (see our previous coverage of its plans).

The funding was provided by existing limited partners, and the firm hopes to get other investors, John Malloy, a partner at BlueRun told VentureWire, which first reported the news this morning.

BlueRun is still investing from its $315 million third fund, but expects to start investing from its fourth fund in the second quarter of this year. by which time it plans to have finished raising its full fund. VentureWire is now saying the firm only plans to raise $300 million, or less than its previous fund. Could this suggest the firm may be having a more difficult time than expected raising money? We don’t know, but the environment for raising money hasn’t been great lately.

The firm invests in early stage companies, and targets mobile and consumer industries. It recently backed widget company, Slide, which raised money at a whopping $550 million valuation last month.

Another recent bet was $3 million on C3L3B Digital, a Simi Valley, Calif. developer of casual MMO games for the mass market, as first reported by PE Wire. That company’s CEO is Joey Carson, former CEO of Bunim Murray Productions, the studio responsible for such MTV staples as The Real World and Road Rules.

According to VentureWire, is exits include PayPal, mobile ad start-up Enpocket and WiFi chip company Airgo Networks.