Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund Closes $1.3B VC Fund

In the latest sign that Silicon Valley still can attract attention, and funding, even amid the continued worries about startups, tech valuations and unicorns, Peter Thiel and his colleagues have scooped up a tidy $1.3 billion to close Founders Fund VI.

The newest addition to the Founders Fund, which is based in San Francisco, helps bring the total raised to date to $3 billion, and as the name implies this is the six vehicle that is part of the pantheon. The Wall Street Journal reported there was no mention as to whether the fund was oversubscribed, which would give a hint of enthusiasm among backers (or even future demand).

But Founders Fund has hardly been alone in its capital raising, which does indeed suggest that venture capital remains alive and kicking and, of course, lucrative.  In this month alone, reported WSJ, Accel has gathered up $2 billion across two separate funds, and other funds have been able to raise their coffers, such as Norwest Venture Partners and Lightspeed Venture Partners.

Across Founders Fund VI, the leadership will include partners already in place at the firm, such as Lauren Gross, Geoff Lewis, Scott Nolan, Ken Howery, Luke Nosek, Brian Singerman, and of course Peter Thiel, among others.  Of that roster, Howery, Nosek and Thiel had been among the founders at Founders, and they had also, of course, been the trio that had helped create PayPal.  The Founders Fund has been an investor, early and otherwise, among tech unicorns tied to a number of industries, and with marquee names such that have become its most significant holdings, such as Airbnb, Palantir, Technologies, SpaceX, Stripe, Stemcentrx and Spotify.

The firm noted in a release that its partners are generalists, and that since its debut in 2005, Founders Fund has been investing across sectors and across the stages that mark a company lifecycle, with significant holdings that span energy, aerospace, robotics and of course the Internet and payments firms.

In a statement announcing the latest fund closing, partner Brian Singerman stated that “We look to make a material impact with each investment, and that requires investing with conviction.  We’re not afraid to go all in when we truly believe in a company. A fund of this size will allow us to put more capital behind our strongest entrepreneurs.”

In a statement announcing the latest fund closing, partner Brian Singerman stated that “We look to make a material impact with each investment, and that requires investing with conviction. We’re not afraid to go all in when we truly believe in a company. A fund of this size will allow us to put more capital behind our strongest entrepreneurs.”