User:Sangatfoundationcap/draft
| Company type | Partnership |
|---|---|
| Industry | Venture Capital |
| Founded | 1995 |
| Founders | Kathryn Gould, Jim Anderson, and Bill Elmore |
| Headquarters | Palo Alto, California |
Key people | Ashu Garg, Charles Moldow, Steve Vassallo (General Partners) |
| Website | foundationcapital.com |
Foundation Capital is a venture capital firm headquartered in Palo Alto, California. It invests primarily in consumer, enterprise, and fintech companies. The firm was founded in 1995.
History
[edit]Foundation Capital was founded in 1995[1] by Kathryn Gould, Jim Anderson, and Bill Elmore.[2] By 1999, it had $200 million in assets under management across 25 companies it invested in.[2] Many of Foundation Capital's early investments were in online lending[3] and green technology, such as smart grid companies.[4]
Foundation Capital raised increasingly larger sums of money from investors, reaching its largest funding round for $750 million in 2008.[1] The money was intended for investing in late-stage companies.[1] The next funding in 2013 was for $282 million, after the number of investing partners went from 13 to 8.[5] TechCrunch said the smaller funding was caused by mediocre returns during the financial crisis of 2007–2008,[1] whereas Foundation Capital said the firm was just returning to normal after an exorbitantly high 2008 funding round.[5]
Foundation Capital rebounded with new hires and larger funds later on.[1] Ashu Garg, Charles Moldow, and Steve Vassallo were appointed as new general partners.[1] It raised $325 million two years later[6][7] and $350 million in 2019.[1]
Investments
[edit]Foundation Capital has three main practice areas: Consumer, Enterprise, and Financial Technology.[8] As of 2019, Foundation Capital was making about 10 to 12 investments per-year for about $6 - $10 million each investment.[1] As of 2010, a typical investment was for about $20 million in funding over several rounds,[4] often starting at the Series A funding round.[1]
Some of the companies Foundation Capital has invested in include:
- Netflix[9]
- Lending Club[10]
- Bolt Threads: Biomaterials[1]
- Cerebras: Semiconductors[1]
- States Title: Insurance technology[1]
- TubeMogul: Advertising system[1]
- Chegg: Student textbooks[1]
Foundation Capital also hosts an entrepreneur in residence program, where it acts as a startup incubator for a serial entrepreneur.[11] Ashu Garg, a general partner at Foundation Capital, has a podcast called How to B2B a CEO, where he interviews CEOs and people in the venture capital industry.[12] Additionally, General Partner Steve Vassallo authored a book called The Way to Design.[13]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Loizos, Connie (September 9, 2019). "Foundation Capital, now 24 years old, just closed its ninth fund with $350 million in capital commitments". TechCrunch. Retrieved September 4, 2020.
- ^ a b Ryan, Vincent (March 3, 1999). "High roller: Kathryn Gould, Foundation Capital". Upside. Vol. 11, no. 3.
- ^ Vartabedian, Marc; Chernova, Yuliya (March 13, 2019). "Mobile-Banking Startup Branch Raises $60 Million". WSJ Pro. Retrieved July 6, 2020.
- ^ a b Chernova, Yuliya (March 12, 2010). "Foundation Capital Eyes Later Stage Clean Tech Deals". VentureWire. Dow Jones & Company.
- ^ a b Gage, Deborah (April 10, 2013). "Foundation Capital Closes Fund VII at $282M". VentureWire. Dow Jones.
- ^ Gage, Deborah (December 14, 2015). "Foundation Capital Closes Eighth Fund at $325M". VentureWire. Dow Jones.
- ^ Loizos, Connie (December 14, 2015). "Foundation Capital Closes Eighth Fund With $325 Million". TechCrunch. Retrieved July 7, 2020.
- ^ Foundation Capital Homepage, Foundation Capital
- ^ Salinas, Sara (October 6, 2017). "Early Netflix investor says that company has returned more than all 199 other investments combined". CNBC. Retrieved July 14, 2020.
- ^ "Lending Club Alleges Ex-CEO Took Loans to Boost Volumes". Reuters. June 28, 2016.
- ^ Vance, Ashlee; Miller, Claire (February 27, 2010). "With E.I.R.'s, Investors Are Growing Their Own Start-Ups". The New York Times. Retrieved July 7, 2020.
- ^ Clark, Kate (July 18, 2018). "VCs love funding—and hosting—podcasts". PitchBook. Retrieved September 15, 2020.
- ^ Dawood, Sarah (June 15, 2017). "New book The Way to Design looks to teach designers about business". Design Week. Retrieved October 5, 2020.