History and Background of Kleiner Perkins
- Founded in 1972 by Eugene Kleiner, Tom Perkins, Frank J. Caufield, and Brook Byers
- Headquartered in Menlo Park, California
- Known for being the first venture capital firm to open an office on Sand Hill Road
- Has raised around $9 billion in 19 venture capital funds and four growth funds
- Notable early investments include America Online, Amazon.com, and Google
Investments and Notable Investments
- Has funded over 900 technology and life sciences firms
- Notable investments include Electronic Arts, Genentech, Twitter, and Nest
- Current investments include DJI, Slack, Robinhood, and UiPath
- Paid $5 million for a stake in Netscape and profited from its IPO
- Initial investors in Amazon.com, scoring returns in excess of $1 billion
Partners and Team
- Notable members of the firm include John Doerr, Vinod Khosla, and Bill Joy
- Colin Powell joined as a strategic partner in 2005
- Al Gore joined as a partner in 2007
- Mary Meeker joined in 2010 and later departed to found Bond Capital
- Mamoon Hamid and Ilya Fushman joined as investing partners in 2017 and 2018, respectively
Recognition and Reputation
- Described as one of Silicon Valley's most famous and established venture capital firms
- Named as one of Silicon Valley's top venture capital providers
- Featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and Dealbook
- Known for its focus on seed, early-stage, and growth companies
- Credited with creating the cluster of venture capital firms on Sand Hill Road
Initiatives and Funds
- Launched the iFund in 2008, a $100 million venture capital initiative for iPhone-related concepts
- Raised funds for a $500 million growth-stage clean-technology fund
- Launched the sFund in 2010, a $250 million fund focused on social startups
- Raised $1.4 billion in funds KP XVII and DGF III in early 2016
- Announced the 19th fund in 2019, focused on early stage investments in various sectors
Kleiner Perkins, formerly Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB), is an American venture capital firm which specializes in investing in incubation, early stage and growth companies. Since its founding in 1972, the firm has backed entrepreneurs in over 900 ventures, including America Online, Amazon.com, Tandem Computers, Compaq, Electronic Arts, JD.com, Square, Genentech, Google, Netscape, Sun Microsystems, Nest, Palo Alto Networks, Synack, Snap, AppDynamics, and Twitter. By 2019 it had raised around $9 billion in 19 venture capital funds and four growth funds.
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Formerly | Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB) |
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Type | Private |
Industry | Venture capital |
Founded | 1972California | in
Founders | |
Headquarters | , U.S. |
Products | Investments |
Website | www |
Kleiner Perkins is headquartered in Menlo Park in Silicon Valley, with offices in San Francisco and Shanghai, China.
The New York Times described Kleiner Perkins as "perhaps Silicon Valley's most famous venture firm". The Wall Street Journal called it one of the "largest and most established" venture capital firms and Dealbook named it "one of Silicon Valley's top venture capital providers."