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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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.