Hot VC Firm Led By Palantir's Cofounder Just Raised $500 Million
Dec 4, 2014, 03:41 IST
TechCrunch, FlickrFormation 8 cofounder Joe LonsdaleFormation 8, one of the hottest and youngest VC firms in Silicon Valley, has just raised a second fund of $500 million on Wednesday.
The San Francisco firm, founded in 2011, has been on a hot streak lately. It made big returns with its early investments in Oculus VR (acquired by Facebook for $2 billion) and RelateIQ (acquired by Salesforce.com for $390 million).
Its founders include Joe Lonsdale, cofounder of Palantir; Jim Kim, former general partner at Khosla Ventures; and Brian Koo, the grandson of LG Electronics' founder.
The firm told The Wall Street Journal that it will invest in about 25 companies, with each receiving around $20 million, over the next two to three years. The new fund will target "old and inefficient" industries, like textiles, food, and energy, Kim told the Journal.
One of the biggest strengths of Formation 8 is in its strong ties to Asian businesses. In particular Koo, with his family ties in some of the biggest Asian firms, makes it easier for Silicon Valley startups to forge relationships in the region. For example, Koo played a major role in connecting Oculus VR to Samsung when the two partnered for a new Oculus product.
Formation 8 already has offices in Seoul, Singapore, Shanghai, and Beijing. The first investment for the new fund was also made in a South Korean mobile shopping startup called YelloMobile earlier this month.