Sequoia Capital
Type | Private |
---|---|
Industry | Private equity |
Founded | 1972 (1972) |
Founder | Don Valentine |
Headquarters | Menlo Park, California U.S. |
Area served | United States, China, India, Israel |
Key people | Michael Moritz Douglas Leone Jim Goetz Roelof Botha |
Products | Venture capital |
Website | sequoiacap.com |
Sequoia Capital is an American venture capital firm.[1] The firm is located in Menlo Park, California and mainly focuses on the technology industry.[2] It has backed companies that now control $1.4 trillion of the combined stock market value.[3] Sequoia manages multiple investment funds including funds specific to India,[4] Israel,[5] and China.[6]
Contents
1 History
2 Investments
3 See also
4 References
5 External links
History
Sequoia was founded by Don Valentine in 1972[7] in Menlo Park, California. In the mid-1990s, Valentine gave control of the company to Doug Leone and Michael Moritz.[3] In 1999, Sequoia expanded its operations to Israel.[8] Sequoia Capital China was established in 2005 as an affiliate to the U.S. firm.[9] In 2006, Sequoia Capital acquired Westbridge Capital Partners, an Indian venture capital firm. It later was renamed Sequoia Capital India.[10] CB Insights recognized Sequoia Capital as the number one venture capital firm in 2013.[11] The U.S. firm had 11 partners as of 2016.[12]
In 2015, Sequoia drew criticism[13][14] after Moritz responded to questions about why the U.S. firm had never had a female investing partner by saying Sequoia was looking for women to hire, but "[w]hat we’re not prepared to do is to lower our standards."[15] Members of the media, technology, and investment communities criticized the statements as suggesting "smart, driven, capable young women interested in working in technology...don’t exist."[16] Moritz subsequently issued a statement saying, "I know there are many remarkable women who would flourish in the venture business" and said the firm was working to find them.[17] In 2016, Sequoia hired Polyvore CEO Jess Lee as an investing partner, making her Sequoia's first female investing partner in the United States[18] as well as one of its youngest partners.[12]
Investments
The firm invests in both public and private companies. It specializes in incubation, seed stage, startup stage, early stage, and growth stage investments in private companies.[19] It has raised a number of funds.[20]
Sequoia Capital has invested in over 250 companies since 1972, including Apple, Google, Oracle, PayPal, Stripe, YouTube, Instagram, Yahoo! and WhatsApp.[21] The combined current public market value for these companies is over $1.4 trillion, equivalent to 22 percent of Nasdaq.[3] Its portfolio is mainly in financial services, healthcare, outsourcing, and technology.[19] As of 2017, they have exited in 68 initial public offerings and 203 acquisitions.[22]
See also
- Private equity
- Venture capital
References
^ Mazel tov, Israeli startups: Sequoia Capital raise $200M to fund you, Meghan Kelly, August 23, 2012, Venture Beat, retrieved May 12, 2016
^ Secretive, Sprawling Network of ‘Scouts’ Spreads Money Through Silicon Valley, Rolfe Winkler, November 12, 2015, Wall Street Journal, retrieved May 12, 2016
^ abc "Inside Sequoia Capital: Silicon Valley's Innovation Factory". Forbes. Retrieved 2015-12-03..mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg/12px-Wikisource-logo.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#33aa33;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}
^ Sequoia Capital reportedly mulling new $800M India fund, may start raising October, Michael De Waal-Montgomery, VentureBeat, retrieved May 12, 2016
^ Sequoia Capital raises more than $1 billion for startups, Dan Primack, August 15, 2013, Forunte, retrieved May 12, 2016
^ Sequoia's Neil Shen Tops Forbes China Ranking Of Best Venture Capital Investors, Russell Flannery, January 15, 2014, Forbes, retrieved May 12, 2016
^ With WhatsApp deal, Sequoia Capital burnishes reputation, Sarah McBride, February 21, 2014, Reuters, retrieved May 12, 2016
^ Israel's Most Important Source of Capital: California, Darwin Bond-Graham, August 20, 2014, CounterPunch.org, retrieved May 9, 2016
^ How Neil Shen Built A Winner At Sequoia Capital China, April 2, 2014, Alex Konrad, Forbes, retrieved March 30, 2016
^ "How Sequoia Capital India became Asia's most prolific venture capital firm". Quartz. Retrieved 2015-12-03.
^ Sequoia Capital leads the venture capital pack, Kent Bernhard Jr, March 15, 2013, Upstart, retrieved May 9, 2016
^ ab McBride, Sarah; Chapman, Lizette (October 20, 2016). "Sequoia Capital Hires Yahoo's Jess Lee as First Woman U.S. Investing Partner". Bloomberg. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
^ Kulwin, Noah (3 December 2015). "Venerated VC Michael Moritz Opens Mouth, Inserts Foot on Question About Hiring Women". Recode. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
^ Kulwin, Noah (December 5, 2015). "VC Mike Moritz's Comments on Gender Disparity Aren't Uncommon in Silicon Valley (Unfortunately)". Recode. Retrieved November 27, 2016.
^ Guynn, Jessica (December 3, 2015). "Michael Moritz taking heat for comments about hiring women". USA Today. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
^ Fox, Emily Jane (December 3, 2015). "Silicon Valley V.C. Firm Can't Find Any Women". Vanity Fair. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
^ Chang, Emily (December 3, 2015). "Michael Moritz Amends Remarks About Lack of Female Investors at Sequoia". Bloomberg. Retrieved November 27, 2016.
^ Garner, Rochelle (October 20, 2016). "VC Moritz, unable to find qualified women, finally hires one". CNET. Retrieved November 27, 2016.
^ ab "Sequoia Capital website". September 4, 2013.
^ Rao, Leena (December 17, 2012). "Sequoia Raises $700M For Global Growth Fund". Tech Crunch.
^ "Inside Sequoia Capital: Silicon Valley's Innovation Factory". George Anders.
^ "Unicorn Outcomes: Sequoia Capital Sees The Most $1B+ Exits And Tends To Get In Early". CB Insights Research. 19 April 2017. Retrieved 31 March 2018.
External links
- Sequoia Capital website