Venture Capitalist firms are considered very important in the startup world. One can always look forward to a VC firm to raise funds for their startup. Venture Capitalists are people who invest in early stage businesses that have a high potential to grow in future. They traditionally receive equity in the startup business in return for funding it. However, nowadays, the trend involves demanding a mixture of debt financing and equity.
Venture Capital Funds come with a number of advantages over any other funding methods for startups. They inject long term equity finance which acts as a solid capital base for future growth. They even act as a business partner, who shares both the risks and rewards of the business. In addition to this, Venture Capitalist funds are high on practical knowledge and advice from their past experiences with other companies. They also come with a network of contacts that can add value to your startup.
We at IndianWeb2 have put together a list of seven biggest Venture Capitalists in the World.
Sequoia Capital-
Founded in November, 1972 by Don Valentine, Sequoia Capital helps young entrepreneurs build successful companies. The Menlo Park, California based company helps the entrepreneurs in pushing the envelope and doing things out of the box. The companies partnering with Sequoia benefit from its unmatched community and the lessons that they have learned from their experiences in the last forty years of working with some of the big names in the biz world including Steve Jobs, Larry Page, Drew Houston, Jerry Yang and Larry Ellison, among many others.
In aggregate, Sequoia Capital backed companies make up for more than twenty percent of NASDAQ’s total value.
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On the international front, the VC has invested in Vasan Health Care, Micromax and MuSigma. Closer home, Sequoia was one of the most active venture funds in the year 2014. The company made fresh tech investments in OlaCabs and mobile gaming startup Octro, among others.Benchmark Capital -
Benchmark is a San Francisco based Venture Capital firm that was founded by Bob Kagle in the year 1995. It is an early stage venture capital firm that focuses on local, social, cloud and mobile companies that disrupt various industries. The firm has its offices in San Francisco and Menlo Park, California. Since 1995, the firm has invested in more than two hundred startups with its market value exceeding a whopping $ 100 billion.
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The San Francisco based Venture Capital firm is famous for its commitment towards open source. It is also recognized for creating the first equal compensation and ownership structure for its partners. Its investments have included Instagram, Friendster, eBay, AOL and Uber, among many other.Khosla Ventures -
This Menlo Park, California headquartered Venture Capital firm was founded by Vinod Khosla, in the year 2004. The firm aims to provide strategic advice and venture assistance to young entrepreneurs working on revolutionary technologies. The California based company has over 4 billion dollars under management. The firm does seed, Private Equity, Early stage venture, Post Ipo Equty, Debt Financing and later stage Venture investments.
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Khosla Ventures mainly focuses on investing in environmentally friendly technologies. It also makes investments in traditional venture areas like silicon, mobile, internet and computing technology arenas. Its major investments include Panzura, Amyris and EcoMotors.General Catalyst -
Founded by David Orfao, Bill Fitzgerald, David Fialkow and Joel Cutler in 2000, General Catalyst is a Cambridge, MA headquartered Venture Capital firm. The firm is famous for making growth equity and early stage investments. The firm focuses on innovative technology companies working towards building products that have the potential to transform industries. The firm uses it broad experience to help entrepreneurs in building market leading businesses. It has offices in New York, Cambridge, CA, MA and Palo Alto.
The firm’s tagline “Entrepreneurs investing in entrepreneurs” echoes its mission. The Cambridge, MA based firm believes the entrepreneurial background of its partners is its singular asset.
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The first has made invested in innovative technology companies like Stripe, Snapchat and Air BnB, among many others.Accel Partners -
Founded in January,1983, Accel Partners is a global venture capital firm that does seed, debt financing, early stage venture, later stage venture, private equity and grant investments. The Palo Alto, CA headquartered firm has its offices in India, New York, China, Silicon Valley and London. They are famous for making multi-stage investments in internet technology based companies. The firm has over six billion dollars under management and has invested in companies like Facebook, Dropbox and Mu Sigma.
Accel with over 12 investments ended up making the highest number of tech investments last year.
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The Silicon Valley fund was one of the earliest investors in ecommerce giant Flipkart. The fund had invested a whopping $1 million in Flipkart back then in 2009.Andreessen Horowitz -
Founded by Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, Andreessen Horowitz is a $ 4 billion, Menlo Park, California headquartered Venture Capital firm. The 2009 established firm does debt financing, seed, early stage ventures, later stage ventures and private equity investments. The firm was ranked number one venture capital firm in 2011 by Investor Rank. The rank was based on its networks and level of syndication with other venture capital firms.
The California based company made its first investment back in 2009, in Apptio, a technology business management SaaS developer. In 2011, it became the first venture capital firm to have a stock in four of the highest valued, privately owned social media companies of that year: Twitter, Facebook, Zynga and Groupon.
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The venture capital firm recently announced investments in Distelli, an information technology automation company and Stack Exchange. Its major investments include Skype and Foursquare.New Enterprise Associates (NEA)
Founded by Frank Bonsal, Richard C. Kramlich and Chuck Newhall in 1977, NEA is one of the largest and most active venture capital firm in the world. The firm is headquartered in Washington, D.C. and Menlo Park, California. It also has its offices in Mumbai, Bangalore, Baltimore, Shanghai, New York, Beijing and Boston.
The global venture capital firm focuses on investment in information technology, energy technology and health care companies. The firm invests between $ 1million and $ 50 million in companies that differ in terms of both sector and stage.
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The firm’s current portfolio includes MongoDB, Buzzfeed, Hearsay Social, Houzz and Intarcia Therapeutics.
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