Today, IVP is announcing IVP XVI, a $1.5 billion fund dedicated to investing in high-growth, later-stage technology companies. We’re grateful for the overwhelming support from our investors and appreciate their trust in our team and our consistent later-stage strategy. Over the past 37 years, IVP has invested in over 300 companies, 106 of which have gone public, and generated an IRR of 43.2%.
We’re proud of our performance and thankful for the talented entrepreneurs we support. We only succeed when they succeed. We’ve been fortunate to work with visionary leaders, including Evan Spiegel (Snap), Jack Dorsey (Twitter), Drew Houston (Dropbox), Stewart Butterfield (Slack), Josh James (Domo), Jessica Alba and Brian Lee (The Honest Company), and many more. Our new fund means we get to do more of the same – support exceptional entrepreneurs who are working to build the next generation of market leaders.
Why raise a $1.5 billion later-stage fund?
- Technology innovation: The opportunity set for later-stage venture capital increased throughout the past decade, primarily due to the rapid acceleration of global technology innovation. In recent years, we have witnessed massive transformational shifts in mobile computing, cloud-based software, data storage and analysis, and infrastructure technologies. As a result of these significant advances in technology, venture-backed companies are targeting larger markets and scaling more rapidly and efficiently than ever before.
More opportunities: Seed and early-stage venture capital firms continue to fund thousands of young, promising technology and media companies every year. Rather than going public prematurely, many of these companies are electing to raise larger, later-stage private venture rounds to finance their rapid growth. We believe this change in financing strategy for high-growth technology companies has created an enormous opportunity for IVP to invest along the way.
Hyper-growth: We’re seeing more companies reach the later-stage at an accelerating pace. Supercell grew from zero to $3 billion in revenues in just three years. Pure Storage expanded headcount more than tenfold in four years, from 170 to over 1900 people. Overall, the average private IVP portfolio company is growing at a staggering 98% annually. The quality of companies in the later-stage market is higher than ever, and our new fund enables us to partner with the most promising entrepreneurs.
What’s our strategy?
IVP XVI will invest between $10 and $100 million in 12 to 16 later-stage companies each year and continue to follow our core investment principles:
- Focused: Our team is 100% focused on finding and funding the most promising later-stage companies. We’re not a “Swiss Army knife” investor. We don’t invest in China, India, CleanTech, Biotech, or seed investments. We want to do one thing and one thing well – invest in 12 to 16 of the fastest growing later-stage technology opportunities each year.
Collaborative: We know that without great entrepreneurs we don’t have a business. We care deeply about our companies and work hard to help them succeed. We believe in backing passionate founders, supporting them through good and bad times, and celebrating their achievements when they succeed.
Supportive: The venture capital business is a service business. Our CEOs and portfolio companies are our customers. We like to roll up our sleeves and help, but we also know that time is precious and an investor shouldn’t ever slow things down. We specialize in helping address the unique needs of hyper-growth companies, including assistance with recruiting, strategy, product development, and scaling operations. We strive to be the experienced and trusted counsel for our CEOs as they wrestle with important decisions, such as equity financings, securing debt, evaluating M&A offers and prepping for an IPO. We deliver on this and then move out of the way.
While IVP is investing in more hyper-growth companies, we’re also investing in our people. Over the last year, we promoted Roseanne Wincek and Tom Loverro to Principals, added Parsa Saljoughian as a Vice President, Chloe Breider and Jason Kong as Associates, and hired Kelly O’Kane as our first Vice President of Business Development. With our new fund, we’ll continue to expand our firm to help our companies with recruiting, international expansion, business strategy, operational scaling, and preparing for additional financing, including M&A or an IPO.
It’s a pleasure to announce IVP XVI, but just like our CEOs, we know that fundraising is just a milestone, not the ultimate goal. We love working with exceptional entrepreneurs and look forward to investing another $1.5 billion into the fastest growing later-stage technology companies that will define our future.