Founders Fund
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Founders Fund is a San Francisco based venture capital firm formed in 2005 and has roughly $12 billion in total assets under management as of 2023.[1] Founders Fund was the first institutional investor in Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) and Palantir Technologies, and early investor in Facebook.[2][3][4] The firm's partners have been founders, early employees and investors at companies including PayPal, Palantir Technologies, Anduril Industries and SpaceX.[5]
| Company type | Venture fund |
|---|---|
| Industry | Venture capital |
| Founded | July 2005 |
| Headquarters | Letterman Digital Arts Center San Francisco, California, U.S. |
Key people | Peter Thiel Ken Howery Luke Nosek Brian Singerman Cyan Banister Lauren Gross Scott Nolan |
| AUM | US$11 billion (2022) |
| Website | www.foundersfund.com |
History edit
The firm was organized by Peter Thiel, Ken Howery, and Luke Nosek in early 2005 and raised its first fund of $50 million from individual entrepreneurs and angel investors in January of that year.[6] Sean Parker, co-founder of Napster and ex-president of Facebook, joined in 2006.[6] In 2007, the firm raised a new fund of $220 million.[7]
In 2010, the firm raised its third fund, with $250 million in committed capital,[8] and in 2011, a fourth fund with $625 million of committed capital was raised.[9][10]
In 2014, Founders Fund raised a $1 billion fifth suite of funds, bringing the firm's aggregate capital under management to more than $2 billion.[11]
In 2016, Founders Fund raised a sixth, $1.3 billion fund, bringing the firm's aggregate capital under management to more than $3 billion.[12]
In 2020, Founders Fund raised a seventh flagship fund and its first growth fund, representing $3 billion in new capital and bringing the firm's aggregate capital under management to more than $6 billion.[13]
In 2022, Founders Fund raised an eighth flagship fund and its second growth fund, representing over $5 billion in new capital and bringing the firm's aggregate capital under management to more than $11 billion.[14]
In 2023, Founders Fund advised companies to withdraw money from Silicon Valley Bank upon announcement of their attempt to raise capital, helping to spur a bank run on the bank and inducing the FDIC to take over.[15]
In March 2023, Founders Fund quietly cut the size of its eighth venture capital fund in half, from around $1.8 billion to around $900 million, to adapt to uncertain market conditions.[16]
Partners edit
As of winter 2023, the firm had thirteen Partners:
- Peter Thiel, founder and former CEO and chairman of PayPal[17]
- Brian Singerman, creator of iGoogle[17]
- Lauren Gross[18]
- Scott Nolan[19]
- Trae Stephens
- Napoleon Ta[18]
- Matias Van Thienen[18]
- Sam Blond
- Joey Krug
- Delian Asparouhov
- Jennifer Campbell
- Ryan Petersen
Former partners include:
- Keith Rabois[18]
- Cyan Banister
- Ken Howery, founder and former CFO of PayPal[17]
- Kevin Hartz, co-founder of Eventbrite[20]
- Sean Parker, co-founder of Napster and Facebook's first president[21]
- Bruce Gibney, founder and author[22][23]
- Geoff Lewis (investor), co-founder of Bedrock[24]
Investments edit
Founders Fund is a generalist firm investing in companies across all sectors, stages and geographies.[citation needed]
The firm's investments include Airbnb, Armada,[25] DeepMind, Lyft, Facebook, Flexport, Palantir Technologies, SpaceX, Spotify, Stripe, Wish, Neuralink, Nubank, and Twilio.[26]
References edit
- ^ "A look inside Founders Fund, as it closes on $5 billion across two new funds". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
- ^ "Thiel's Founders Fund sells remaining Facebook shares". Reuters. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
- ^ "Private rocket company SpaceX gets $20M from The Founders Fund". VentureBeat. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
- ^ "Palantir Technologies Files to Go Public". The New York Times. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
- ^ Brehse, Tami. "The 'PayPal Mafia' formed in the early 2000s, and includes everyone from Elon Musk to the Yelp founders. Here's where the original members have ended up". Business Insider. Retrieved 2020-08-12.
- ^ a b Guynn, Jessica (December 13, 2006). "The Founders Fund emerges as venture capital 2.0". The San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2007-01-20.
- ^ Jessica Guynn (December 18, 2007). . Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 2008-02-05. Retrieved 2007-11-23.
- ^ Founders Fund raises $250M vehicle (July 19, 2010). "Founders Fund raises $250M vehicle". San Francisco Business Times. Retrieved August 27, 2013.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Rusli, Evelyn M. (December 1, 2011). "Peter Thiel's Founders Fund Raises $625 Million". New York Times.
- ^ "Want A Piece Of Founders Fund's Latest $625M Fund? Start By Trying To Change The World". TechCrunch. 16 December 2011. Retrieved 2020-08-12.
- ^ VentureBeat (March 5, 2014). "Founders Fund raises a big $1B fund to plunk into startups". VentureBeat. Retrieved September 16, 2014.
- ^ Scott Martin (March 25, 2016). "Peter Thiel's Founders Fund Bags $1.3 Billion". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved July 22, 2017.
- ^ "Founders Fund stocks up with $3B across two funds". PitchBook. February 20, 2020. Retrieved November 16, 2020.
- ^ "Founders Fund Raises $5 Billion for Early- to Late-Stage Deals". Bloomberg. March 3, 2022. Retrieved April 4, 2022.
- ^ Hogg, Ryan (11 March 2023). "Peter Thiel's Founders Fund got its cash out of Silicon Valley Bank before it was shut down, report says". Business Insider. Retrieved 13 March 2023.
- ^ "Founders Fund". Angelspartners.com. Retrieved 17 February 2024.
- ^ a b c Primack, Dan. "Peter Thiel's Founders Fund isn't really Peter Thiel's Founders Fund". Axios. Retrieved 2020-08-12.
- ^ a b c d "Founders Fund Raises $5 Billion for Early- to Late-Stage Deals". Mergers & Acquisitions. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
- ^ "VC Scott Nolan on using what he learned at SpaceX to invest at Founders Fund - Silicon Valley Business Journal". The Business Journals. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
- ^ "Kevin Hartz Is Stepping Down as Partner at Founders Fund". Fortune. Retrieved 2018-07-24.
- ^ "Sean Parker formally leaves Founders Fund". Fortune. March 6, 2014.
- ^ Josh Constine (December 11, 2012). "Founders Fund Partner Bruce Gibney Has Left The Firm". Tech Crunch. Retrieved January 17, 2017.
- ^ Susannah Birkwood (October 31, 2012). "Profile: Founders Fund's Bruce Gibney". Asian Venture Capital Journal. Retrieved January 17, 2017.
- ^ McBride, Sarah (18 August 2017). "Founders Fund's Geoff Lewis Leaves to Start His Own Fund". Bloomberg. Retrieved 2019-11-27.
- ^ Konrad, Alex. "Startup Armada Is Bringing AI To Remote Places, Using SpaceX Starlink Satellites". Forbes. Retrieved 2024-01-30.
- ^ "Portfolio". Founders Fund. Retrieved 9 March 2023.
External links edit
- Founders Fund (official website)