HP bought 3PAR to extend its cloud computing strategy. HP beat out Dell by paying $2.35 billion.

“We intend to invest in 3PAR’s technology to create long-term value for our stakeholders”, said Dave Donatelli, executive vice president and general manager, Enterprise Servers, Storage and Networking, HP.

3Par’s earliest and biggest venture investors, Menlo Ventures, Worldview Technology Partners and Mayfield Fund reaped a combined $560 million windfall by holding onto shares acquired near the time of the company’s initial public offering in 2007. Traditionally VCs would not hold on the share this long but the recession depressed the shares of 3PAR and the VCs were stuck holding it.

“In this particular case, the VCs really did believe in the long-term potential of the company,” said Lise Buyer, founder of Class V Group, an IPO consulting firm in Portola Valley, California.

Other venture capitalists, stung by the recession and an IPO drought, are eager to find new ways to lift returns and some may be tempted to hold onto stock longer.

“The amount of negativity about venture is at an all-time high,” said Alex Bangash, who is also co-founder of Trusted Insight Inc., an online marketplace for alternative investments. “This is not going to reverse the trend.”