PE Tech Report

NEWSLETTER

Like this article?

Sign up to our free newsletter

True Ventures closes Fund V at USD310m

Early-stage venture capital firm True Ventures has raised USD310 million for its fifth fund, True Ventures V.

With the close of this fund, True now manages approximately USD1.3 billion in capital.
 
True received support from substantially all of its existing investor base and a few new institutional investors.
 
Celebrating its 10-year anniversary this year, True Ventures has enjoyed a consistent track record of success in multiple markets including connected hardware, enterprise software and infrastructure.
 
Successful investments include Fitbit (NYSE: FIT), MakerBot (acquired by Stratasys), Goodreads (acquired by Amazon), BrightRoll (acquired by Yahoo!), and Automattic (the company behind WordPress).
 
More recent investments include Peloton, Ring, Puppet Labs, Duo Security and Namely.
 
Fund V enables True to continue investing in "founders of movements" and "products that capture the world's imagination”.
 
True Co-founder Jon Callaghan says: "We've succeeded because of our unrelenting focus on making the dreams of today's creative founders come true. We strive to empower entrepreneurs with the collaborative power of our platform. After 10 years in business and many successful outcomes, we remain committed to our founding beliefs that people are everything, and that big things start small. We look forward to meeting, funding and serving missionary founders with Fund V."
 
True Ventures is known for being the first early stage VC firm to create a "founder platform" incorporating educational events, communication tools, resources and community initiatives for founders and their teams, families and communities.
 
This includes True Ventures' signature events: True University, a two-day "start-up school" to educate employees at True portfolio companies about all aspects of the entrepreneurial experience; and Founder Camp, a two-day deep dive into the challenges and experiences facing founders of early-stage companies.
 
True's founder platform also includes two initiatives aimed at building the entrepreneurial talent of tomorrow: True Entrepreneur Corps (TEC), a 10-week fellowship programme where college juniors and seniors can learn what it's like to work at a start-up first-hand; and the Priya Haji Fellowship, a nine-month programme for new college graduates – particularly women – seeking their first full-time start-up jobs.
 
Recently, True expanded its reach further by focusing on the impact the firm could have upon the broader community. To that end, it launched True Impact, an initiative to extend True's creative platform, people and brand to non-profit organisations improving the community.
 
John Foley, CEO and founder of Peloton, says: "Everyone in the Valley knows True's track record of great investments. But what founders tell each other about is the incredible amount of support and consideration True gives to entrepreneurs and their teams. It's rare to find VCs who actually care, and they do."
 
Fund V's first investments include a high-powered laser metal printer, a user experience design "school," a virtual reality application and genome sequencing technology.
 
True Co-founder Phil Black says: "We were one of the earliest investors in connected devices with our Fitbit investment in 2008 and we will continue to devote a significant portion of our fund to connected hardware and sensors. Other areas of focus for True are enterprise SaaS and infrastructure software. We are also very excited about expansive opportunities in core sciences including space innovation and digital biology."

Like this article? Sign up to our free newsletter

MOST POPULAR

FURTHER READING

Featured