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Founders Fund
USINFO | 2013-07-05 09:59
Founders Fund is a San Francisco based venture capital investment firm. The firm’s five partners, Peter Thiel, Sean Parker, Ken Howery, Luke Nosek, and Brian Singerman have been founders of or early investors in numerous companies, such as Facebook, PayPal, Napster, and Palantir Technologies. Founders Fund was formed in 2005 and has launched four funds to date with more than $1 billion in aggregate capital under management.
History
The firm was organized by Peter Thiel and Ken Howery in early 2005 and raised its first fund of $50 million from individual entrepreneurs and angel investors in January of that year. In 2006, Sean Parker, an early employee of Napster and ex-president of Facebook, and Luke Nosek joined as managing partners. In 2007, the firm raised a new fund of $220 million.
In 2010, the firm raised its third fund, with $250 million in committed capital, and in 2011, a fourth fund with $625 million of committed capital was raised.
Partners
As of the end of 2012, the firm was made up of the following partners:
Peter Thiel, founder and former CEO and chairman of PayPal
Ken Howery, founder and former CFO of PayPal
Luke Nosek, founder and former vice president of PayPal
Sean Parker, former president of Plaxo and Facebook, served as managing partner from the time he left Facebook in 2008 until 2011, when his title became Executive General Partner.
Brian Singerman, founder of iGoogle
Philosophy
Founders Fund's manifesto states "We invest in smart people solving difficult problems, often difficult scientific or engineering problems." Unlike many venture capital funds in Silicon Valley, Founders Fund focuses on companies that it believes are creating revolutionary new technologies and products and does not limit itself to Web 2.0 companies. This philosophy is reflected in the statement on the company's website: "We wanted flying cars, instead we got 140 characters." The "140 characters" is a reference to Twitter.
Investments
According to its website, Founders Fund invests in the following five areas:
biotechnology and health
consumer Internet and media
advanced machines and artificial intelligence
aerospace and transportation
analytics and software
Some of the Fund's investments include Facebook, SpaceX, Spotify, Palantir Technologies, Yammer, Knewton, Practice Fusion, Powerset, Quantcast, Slide, Geni, Causes, Moat, Inigral, ZocDoc, Taskrabbit, IronPort, 140 Proof, Pathway Genomics, Vicarious Systems, Path, and Votizen.
History
The firm was organized by Peter Thiel and Ken Howery in early 2005 and raised its first fund of $50 million from individual entrepreneurs and angel investors in January of that year. In 2006, Sean Parker, an early employee of Napster and ex-president of Facebook, and Luke Nosek joined as managing partners. In 2007, the firm raised a new fund of $220 million.
In 2010, the firm raised its third fund, with $250 million in committed capital, and in 2011, a fourth fund with $625 million of committed capital was raised.
Partners
As of the end of 2012, the firm was made up of the following partners:
Peter Thiel, founder and former CEO and chairman of PayPal
Ken Howery, founder and former CFO of PayPal
Luke Nosek, founder and former vice president of PayPal
Sean Parker, former president of Plaxo and Facebook, served as managing partner from the time he left Facebook in 2008 until 2011, when his title became Executive General Partner.
Brian Singerman, founder of iGoogle
Philosophy
Founders Fund's manifesto states "We invest in smart people solving difficult problems, often difficult scientific or engineering problems." Unlike many venture capital funds in Silicon Valley, Founders Fund focuses on companies that it believes are creating revolutionary new technologies and products and does not limit itself to Web 2.0 companies. This philosophy is reflected in the statement on the company's website: "We wanted flying cars, instead we got 140 characters." The "140 characters" is a reference to Twitter.
Investments
According to its website, Founders Fund invests in the following five areas:
biotechnology and health
consumer Internet and media
advanced machines and artificial intelligence
aerospace and transportation
analytics and software
Some of the Fund's investments include Facebook, SpaceX, Spotify, Palantir Technologies, Yammer, Knewton, Practice Fusion, Powerset, Quantcast, Slide, Geni, Causes, Moat, Inigral, ZocDoc, Taskrabbit, IronPort, 140 Proof, Pathway Genomics, Vicarious Systems, Path, and Votizen.
