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Founders Fund
San Francisco-based venture capital firm From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Founders Fund is an American venture capital fund formed in 2005 and based in San Francisco. The fund has roughly $17 billion in total assets under management as of 2025.[1][2] Founders Fund was the first institutional investor in Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) and Palantir Technologies, and an early investor in Facebook.[3][4][5] The firm's partners have been founders, early employees and investors at companies including PayPal, Palantir Technologies, Anduril Industries and SpaceX.[6]
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The firm's investments include Airbnb, Anduril, DeepMind, Rippling, Facebook, Ramp, Palantir Technologies, Pudgy Penguins, SpaceX, Spotify, Stripe, Neuralink, and Nubank.[7][8]
Notable partners include Peter Thiel[9] and Trae Stephens.[10] Former partners include Brian Singerman,[9][11] Keith Rabois,[12] Cyan Banister, Ken Howery,[9] Kevin Hartz,[13] Sean Parker,[14] and Bruce Gibney.[15][16]
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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.[17] Sean Parker, co-founder of Napster and ex-president of Facebook, joined in 2006.[17] In 2007, the firm raised a new fund of $220 million.[18]
In 2010, the firm raised its third fund, with $250 million in committed capital,[19] and in 2011, a fourth fund with $625 million of committed capital was raised.[20][21]
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.[22]
In 2016, Founders Fund raised a sixth, $1.3 billion fund, bringing the firm's aggregate capital under management to more than $3 billion.[23]
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.[24]
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.[12]
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.[25][better source needed]
In 2025, Founders Fund raised its third growth fund, Founders Fund Growth III, at $4.6 billion for late-stage investments.[26]
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