Austin-based venture capital firm 8VC has raised $880 million in its fifth fund led by controversial Palantir founder John Lonsdale.
in Blog post Published today, Lonsdale – which serves as 8VC’s general partner – said the company’s mission is to “fix a broken world”.
While it didn’t specify which industries the new fund would target or the average bid size, Lonsdale said 8VC now manages “more than $6 billion in committed capital” and plans to invest “at every stage” and build companies themselves. . He also shared that the 8VC team has grown more than 60 people.
In 2020, 8VC popular He moved his headquarters From San Francisco to Austin, Texas. Lonsdale at the time He tweeted. It was Austin “*is more tolerant of ideological diversity than SF.” He added, “It’s a good idea to have leftist hippies in general for great culture/music/food etc… instead of all of them running the state.”
Today, 8VC’s new headquarters in the Texas capital has “become a magnet for entrepreneurs and builders from around the world,” he writes.
It is believed to be the fund According to the largest Texas-based venture fund for startups Austinino.
Lonsdale’s post about the new fund had a philosophical tone. “There are great challenges facing our civilization, to be sure, and challenges to entrepreneurship,” he wrote. But as entrepreneurs, broken things present opportunities. And when we look closely, we see amazing changes taking place all around us. AI is changing the world inside and outside of computers; Genomic engineering and new scientific knowledge are changing the world of cells; Advanced manufacturing is changing the world of machines; They are new business models, incentives and innovations Changing how we get health care. These are some of our boundaries.
Over the years, 8VC has invested in companies across various industries such as logistics, life sciences, healthcare, IT infrastructure, government and defense, financial services, consumer and enterprise. Like PitchBook, it has He made a total of 500 investments. Among it Portfolio companies They are Asana, Blend, Flexport, Hisna Her, Mammoth Biosciences, Elon Musk’s The Boring Company, Qualia and Wish.
Sometimes Lonsdale gets as much attention as its portfolio companies. He made headlines early last year and ruffled more than a few feathers on Twitter About the difference in “active” technology. Where other controversies have entered a A split with previous investment partners and a high-profile lawsuit filed by a former Stanford student later dropped.
Lonsdale on Transport Secretary Pete Buttigieg’s paternity leave; He tweeted. In the year By the end of 2021, “any man in a position of importance who takes 6 months off for a newborn… loser.
He has often defended subsequent responses by saying that his words were misinterpreted or taken out of context.
In a New Yorker article this month about Austin’s shift from liberal to “liberal to near-liberal” in recent years, Lonsdale spoke to the author of the article about his adopted city and told him that he understands the politics of the dramatic class. Discuss in a civil way.
“In San Francisco,” Lonsdale said, “when I pick someone up, they’re like, ‘You’re a bad guy.’ So there’s still something very wholesome about Texas. I really hope we keep it that way.
According to SEC filings, 8VC closed its last major fund in 2021 with a capital commitment of $640 million. It has developed several special-purpose vehicles in recent years, show file footage.
