The venture capital firm Lux Capital said on Wednesday that it had closed its third fund at $245 million, the biggest pool of capital it has raised to date.
Lux, which focuses on investments in the energy, technology and health care industries, said it had surpassed its fund-raising target of $200 million.
The firm, founded in 2000, has invested in the likes of Kurion, a company that focuses on treating nuclear waste and was involved in the cleanup of the Fukushima nuclear plant disaster in Japan. Among its executives are Jeffrey B. Kindler, the former chief executive of Pfizer, and R. James Woolsey, a former head of the Central Intelligence Agency.
“We feel very, very fortunate,†Peter Hébert, a co-founder of Lux, told DealBook in an interview by phone.
Mr. Hébert said the firm, whose first fund was less than $10 million, has succeeded by focusing on a relatively smaller number of companies, about two dozen.
It has also benefited from being first in an investment opportunity and by claiming a set of industries that is not as crowded as the consumer Internet space that gave rise to Facebook, Groupon and an army of clones.
“The w! ord of the day is differentiation,†Mr. Hébert said. “L.P.’s are looking for firms that look unique.â€
