Founders Fund
San Francisco-based venture capital firm From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Founders Fund is an American venture capital fund formed in 2005 and based in San Francisco. The fund 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 an 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]
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| Company type | Venture fund |
|---|---|
| Industry | Venture capital |
| Founded | July 2005 |
| Founder | Peter Thiel |
| 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$12 billion (2023) |
| Website | www.foundersfund.com |
History
Summarize
Perspective
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 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][better source needed]
Partners
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[14]
- Scott Nolan[18]
- Trae Stephens
- Napoleon Ta[14]
- Matias Van Thienen[14]
- Sam Blond
- Joey Krug
- Delian Asparouhov
- Jennifer Campbell
- Ryan Petersen
Former partners include:
- Keith Rabois[14]
- Cyan Banister
- Ken Howery, founder and former CFO of PayPal[17]
- Kevin Hartz, co-founder of Eventbrite[19]
- Sean Parker, co-founder of Napster and Facebook's first president[20]
- Bruce Gibney, founder and author[21][22]
- Geoff Lewis (investor), co-founder of Bedrock[23]
Investments
Founders Fund is a generalist firm investing in companies across all sectors, stages and geographies.[citation needed]
The firm's investments include Airbnb, Anduril, Armada,[24] DeepMind, Lyft, Facebook, Flexport, Palantir Technologies, SpaceX, Spotify, Stripe, Wish, Neuralink, Nubank, and Twilio.[25]
References
External links
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