Venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins raises $1.8 bln via two new funds

Jan 11 (Reuters) – Venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins said on Tuesday it had raised $1.8 billion through two new funds, joining a clutch of companies raising capital amid soaring valuations of tech startups.

A total of 38,644 venture capital deals were made globally last year, totaling $671 billion in volumes, higher than any other year on record, according to data from PitchBook.

The firm raised $800 million and $1 billion for funds named KP20 and Select2, to invest in early stage startups across sectors such as consumer, fintech and healthcare. The company is also looking to tap into more cryptocurrency investments.

Its fundraise follows that of Silicon Valley-based venture capital giant Andreessen Horowitz, which raised a massive $9 billion through three new funds last week.

Kleiner Perkins said it had raised 20 early-stage venture funds since it was founded in 1972. Over the last five decades, it has invested in some of the most notable technology companies, including Alphabet Inc, Amazon.com Inc , Twitter Inc and Uber Technologies Inc .

A string of its portfolio companies listed on public exchanges in New York last year, including language learning app Duolingo Inc and online education platform Coursera Inc , fetched valuations of more than $5 billion each.