Former Apple execs Fred Anderson, Avie Tevanian raise NeXT-themed venture capital fund

Anderson, upper left, and Tevanian, upper right

The fund includes personal contributions from both Anderson and Tevanian along with cash from outside investors, according to Bloomberg. The name was chosen as a nod to NeXT, the firm at which Tevanian first led software engineering under Jobs before following the mercurial Apple founder back to Cupertino in 1997.

Both Anderson and Tevanian were formerly involved with Elevation Partners, a multi-billion dollar private equity fund fronted by U2's Bono that has begun to wind down operations.

There is no word on exactly how much NextEquity has raised thus far, but Tevanan told the publication that the group has already begun to make investments. It's also not clear whether NextEquity has chosen a particular focus area — many funds tend to concentrate on a specific vertical in which the partners have expertise — or will act as a general-purpose investor.

Tevanian and Anderson are not the first ex-Apple employees to become investors, but they are among the most high profile.

In one of the more peculiar investments to date, former iOS chief Scott Forstall — ignominiously fired over the Apple Maps rollout disaster — became a Broadway producer. His show, "Fun Home," became the first musical with an all-female writing staff to win a Tony and led Forstall to invest in a second play, dubbed "Eclipse."