New York - Facebook backer Accel Partners' announcement of a new $480 million late-stage venture fund is fueling speculation that the venture capital firm will make a new investment in the online social network, according to published reports.

The new fund is the first that Accel has earmarked for late-stage companies; it has previously focused on very young ventures.

"We've been seeing increasingly the flow of companies that fit this growth stage, looking for some capital both to grow and also, in these times, for cushion," Theresia Gouw Ranzetta, a partner at Accel, told The New York Times.

CNET News.com also reported that, with ad spending on the decline, "and some critics expressing concern about whether Facebook's revenue can keep pace with its wild growth, there's a legitimate question as to how effectively Facebook has battened down the hatches for the economic storm."

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/7sdbq (NY Times Bits Blog)

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13577_3-10121078-36.html

http://www.accel.com/news/news_one_up.php?news_id=215