Founders Fund

Founders Fund is a San Francisco-based venture capital firm. Formed in 2005, Founders Fund had more than $6 billion in aggregate capital under management as of 2020. The firm invests across all stages and sectors, including aerospace, artificial intelligence, advanced computing, energy, health, and consumer Internet, with a portfolio that includes Airbnb, Lyft, Spotify, Stripe, and Oscar Health. Founders Fund was the first institutional investor in Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) and Palantir Technologies, and one of the earliest investors in Facebook. The firm’s partners, including Peter Thiel, Ken Howery and Brian Singerman, have been founders, early employees and investors at companies including PayPal, Google, Palantir Technologies, and SpaceX.[1]

Founders Fund
TypeVenture fund
IndustryVenture capital
FoundedJuly 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
Keith Rabois
Websitewww.foundersfund.com

History
Peter Thiel

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. Sean Parker, co-founder of Napster and ex-president of Facebook, joined in 2006.[2] In 2007, the firm raised a new fund of $220 million.[3]

In 2010, the firm raised its third fund, with $250 million in committed capital,[4] and in 2011, a fourth fund with $625 million of committed capital was raised.[5][6]

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.[7]

In 2016, Founders Fund raised a sixth, $1.3 billion fund, bringing the firm's aggregate capital under management to more than $3 billion.[8]

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.[9]

Partners

As of spring 2020, the firm had seven partners, including:

Former partners include:

Investments

Unlike many venture capital funds in Silicon Valley, Founders Fund is a generalist firm investing in companies across all sectors, stages and geographies. Health care and mobile are among of the most popular industries.

The firm's investments include Airbnb, DeepMind, Lyft, Facebook, Flexport, Palantir Technologies, SpaceX, Spotify, Stripe, Wish, Nubank, and Twilio.[16]

References
  1. 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.
  2. Guynn, Jessica (December 13, 2006). "The Founders Fund emerges as venture capital 2.0". The San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2007-01-20.
  3. Jessica Guynn (December 18, 2007). "Facebook backer now a rival to venture capitalists". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 2008-02-05. Retrieved 2007-11-23.
  4. Founders Fund raises $250M vehicle (July 19, 2010). "Founders Fund raises $250M vehicle". San Francisco Business Times. Retrieved August 27, 2013.
  5. Rusli, Evelyn M. (December 1, 2011). "Peter Thiel's Founders Fund Raises $625 Million". New York Times.
  6. "Want A Piece Of Founders Fund's Latest $625M Fund? Start By Trying To Change The World". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2020-08-12.
  7. VentureBeat (March 5, 2014). "Founders Fund raises a big $1B fund to plunk into startups". VentureBeat. Retrieved September 16, 2014.
  8. Scott Martin (March 25, 2016). "Peter Thiel's Founders Fund Bags $1.3 Billion". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved July 22, 2017.
  9. "Founders Fund stocks up with $3B across two funds". PitchBook. February 20, 2020. Retrieved November 16, 2020.
  10. Primack, Dan. "Peter Thiel's Founders Fund isn't really Peter Thiel's Founders Fund". Axios. Retrieved 2020-08-12.
  11. "Kevin Hartz Is Stepping Down as Partner at Founders Fund". Fortune. Retrieved 2018-07-24.
  12. "Sean Parker formally leaves Founders Fund". Fortune. March 6, 2014.
  13. Josh Constine (December 11, 2012). "Founders Fund Partner Bruce Gibney Has Left The Firm". Tech Crunch. Retrieved January 17, 2017.
  14. Susannah Birkwood (October 31, 2012). "Profile: Founders Fund's Bruce Gibney". Asian Venture Capital Journal. Retrieved January 17, 2017.
  15. McBride, Sarah. "Founders Fund's Geoff Lewis Leaves to Start His Own Fund". www.bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2019-11-27.
  16. "Portfolio". Founders Fund. Retrieved 2020-12-31.
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