Wit Capital Group Inc, parent of online investment banking firm Wit Capital Corp, says it has closed its first proprietary fund, Arista Capital Partners LP, a $39.5m internet-related private equity fund. The fund is designed to enable Wit to expand its services to include public underwriting, strategic advisory, private equity placements, investment research, and the management of venture capital funding.
As part of Wit Capital, the fund hopes to leverage the firm’s ties to the internet industry and is intended to allow qualifying individuals to participate in VC investments that would have traditionally only been available to institutions. To manage the fund’s investment portfolio, Wit has set up an alliance with Dawntreader LP, the early-stage internet fund established last year by Robert Lessin, Wit’s chairman and co-CEO.
