The Daily Start-Up: Longitude Sees Latitude To Raise New Fund.

Longitude Capital Management Co., a venture firm founded by former members of Pequot Ventures, is talking to investors about its second life sciences fund, VentureWire has learned. The firm is expected to target $325 million for the new fund, the same amount that it raised for its debut effort back in 2008, which was generating a 16.8% net internal rate of return, including unrealized investments, according to Calpers.

The founder and chief technology officer of energy storage developer Deeya Energy Inc., Saroj Sahu, has left the company, he told VentureWire. Among its investors are BlueRun Ventures, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, New Enterprise Associates and Technology Partners. “It was for personal reasons, I’m working on another venture right now,” Sahu said. It’s in the area of clean technology, but he declined to name the start-up or describe it further.

Also, Polaris Group is raising about $20 million for its lead drug targeting liver-cancer patients, VentureWire has learned…General Fusion Inc. has raised a $19.5 million round at a post-money valuation of about $50 million as it eyes several years of research and development ahead of it on a new type of energy generation technology… and, choosing growth over profitability, Mashery Inc., a provider of web app services for the enterprise, has raised a Series D round of $11 million so it can handle bigger customers.