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Founders Fund nears $6b growth fund target: sources
Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund, a San Francisco venture firm, is nearing a close on Founders Fund Growth IV with about US$6 billion in commitments, according to people familiar with the matter.
Those sources said roughly US$1.5 billion of the capital is coming from the firm’s partners and that demand from outside investors exceeded the fund’s capacity.
The raise follows a US$4.6 billion growth fund the firm closed less than a year earlier that was aimed mainly at follow-on investments.
Founders Fund invests across early and growth stages and holds stakes in companies such as Palantir, SpaceX, Stripe, Rippling, Ramp, Anduril, and Crusoe.
Last month, the firm co-led a reported US$30 billion injection into Anthropic at a US$380 billion post-money valuation.
🔗 Source: TechCrunch
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Implications, context, and why it matters.
Founders Fund’s new vehicle sticks to its usual playbook
- Founders Fund is often described as a San Francisco venture firm, yet InvestmentNews says it moved its offices to Miami in 2020 1.
- The firm has paused new early-stage vehicles. Reports say it is not raising a ninth core early-stage pool because it says it was essentially raised three years ago. It later shifted about $900 million into that ninth pool 2.
- Partner money again makes up a large slice. The prior $4.6 billion growth fund also drew substantial capital from Founders Fund’s general partners (the investing partners who manage the fund) 3.
- Investor demand also ran hot. The previous growth vehicle was oversubscribed (meaning investor demand exceeded the amount the firm planned to accept) after it first aimed for $3 billion and closed at $4.6 billion 3.
More money flows to AI and defense deals
- The larger raise marks a turn from 2023’s bear mode, when Founders Fund cut the size of a new fund, toward a more upbeat stretch for venture investing 3.
- It also matches the cash needs inside the portfolio. Leading AI companies such as Anthropic are raising rounds as large as $30 billion 4.
- The capital also supports bigger bets in defense tech. The portfolio includes Anduril and SpaceX 3.
