By Adam E. John

Index Ventures has announced a new €500 million Index Growth Fund. The venture capital firm says the Growth fund will be investing between €10M and €50M in the equity of “fast growing companies with proven business models and solid management teams going after large market opportunities in which they have already built an initial leadership position that can be extended.”

If you think that just sounded like a very tall order, consider this. Index Venture’s first Growth fund portfolio companies had an average revenue growth rate of above 70 per cent in 2010 (versus  2009). From an initial level of generally around €20M at the time of initial investment, several portfolio companies have crossed the €100M bar this year.

Index Ventures is looking to invest in areas that are aligned with its core expertise in technology, especially in Internet and online businesses, as well as software, said the firm in a blog post announcing the launch of the new fund.

(Adam E. John is consulting editor with techtaffy.com. He can be reached at [email protected])