Big Boys Go Digital: JPMorgan Raises $1.2 Billion For Social Media Fund

Venture capital funds have launched social media funds, now even big boys in the private equity world are raising special vehicles for investing in the social media space. Call it the Facebook, Groupon or Twitter effect. Global investment bank JP Morgan has raised a $1.2 billion fund to invest in the digital space, reports Dealbook, quoting a regulatory filing.

This is an update of its fund raising while the fund is open to subscription till December 31. The firm has also not announced a cap for the fund - titled the J.P. Morgan Digital Growth Fund LP - which means it can absorb as much it wants.

The firm has also disclosed that the minimum amount accepted from outside investors is $250,000. The Digital Growth fund is described in the filing as a "venture capital fund" that will offer "pooled investment fund interests," according to a Reuters report.

In October last year, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers had raised a $250 million fund - called SFund - in association with Facebook, Amazon.com, and Zynga.

The interest of the big boys are obvious as the next big IPOs are going to come from the likes of Facebook and Groupon. In January, Facebook raised $1.5 billion from Goldman Sachs Group Inc and that bank's clients. Also LinkedIn Corp, a networking site targeted toward professionals, announced an IPO to raise as much as $175 million, while deals site Groupon is being courted by the likes of Goldman Sachs to manage the company's IPO.