Sequoia Capital
Sequoia Capital is an American venture capital firm.[1] The firm is headquartered in Menlo Park, California and mainly focuses on the technology industry.[2] It has backed companies that now control $1.4 trillion of combined stock market value.[3] Sequoia manages multiple investment funds including funds specific to India & Southeast Asia,[4] Israel,[5] and China.[6] The firm has offices in Menlo Park, Singapore, Bengaluru, Mumbai, New Delhi, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing, and Tel Aviv. [7]
Private | |
Industry | Venture capital |
Founded | 1972 |
Founder | Don Valentine |
Headquarters | , |
Area served | United States, Southeast Asia, India, China, Israel |
Key people | Michael Moritz Douglas Leone Jim Goetz Roelof Botha |
Products | Investments |
Website | sequoiacap |
History
Sequoia was founded by Don Valentine in 1972[8] 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.[9] Sequoia Capital China was established in 2005 as an affiliate to the U.S. firm.[10] In 2006, Sequoia Capital acquired Westbridge Capital Partners, an Indian venture capital firm. It later was renamed Sequoia Capital India.[11] CB Insights recognized Sequoia Capital as the number one venture capital firm in 2013.[12] The U.S. firm had 11 partners as of 2016.[13]
Investments
Sequoia invests in both public and private companies. It specializes in incubation, seed stage, startup stage, early stage, and growth stage investments in private companies.[14]
Sequoia Capital has invested in over 1000 companies since 1972, including Apple, Google, Oracle, Nvidia, GitHub, PayPal, LinkedIn, Stripe, Bird,[15] YouTube, Instagram, Yahoo!, and WhatsApp.[16] 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.[14] As of 2017, they have exited in 68 initial public offerings and 203 acquisitions.[17]
On March 5, 2020, Sequoia Capital sent a notice to its portfolio companies saying, “We suggest you question every assumption about your business,” and calling coronavirus “the black swan of 2020”[18] predicting that the global economy could be restrained by the virus.[19] That comes after stock market drop on Wall Street and concerns about a possible economic recession.[20] The memo recurs a presentation prepared by the firm for its portfolio companies called "R.I.P. Good Times"[21], about how to prepare for the 2008 financial crisis.[22]
In March 2020, Sequoia Capital announced that it is opening a fundraiser for about $7bn for its latest set of venture capital funds, testing investor appetite for technology start-ups in the US and south-east Asia as a response to the coronavirus market damage. The fundraiser is set to end as soon as July.[23]
See also
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
- "Inside Sequoia Capital: Silicon Valley's Innovation Factory". Forbes. Retrieved 2015-12-03.
- Sequoia wraps up new $695M fund for India and Southeast Asia, Jon Russell, TechCrunch, retrieved May 25, 2020
- Sequoia Capital raises more than $1 billion for startups, Dan Primack, August 15, 2013, Fortune, 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
- Sequoia Capital Locations, Sequoia Capital, retrieved May 25, 2020
- 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.
- "The Top 100 Venture Capital Partners & Firms l CB Insights". CB Insights Research. 2019-03-31. Retrieved 2020-03-07.
- 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.
- "Sequoia Capital website". September 4, 2013.
- Griswold, Alison. "Electric scooter company Bird raises $275 million, with a new focus on profitability". Quartz. Retrieved 2019-11-25.
- "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.
- Novet, Jordan (2020-03-05). "Venture firm Sequoia is sounding the alarm about the economy again as coronavirus spreads". CNBC. Retrieved 2020-03-07.
- "Highlights From Sequoia Capital's Letter To Founders And CEOs". Invezz. 2020-03-06. Retrieved 2020-03-07.
- Schleifer, Theodore (2020-03-05). "Silicon Valley's top investing firm has a stark message on coronavirus: Prepare for the worst". Vox. Retrieved 2020-03-07.
- "R.I.P. Good Times". Sequoia Capital. Retrieved 2020-03-07.
- "Sequoia Capital's 56 Slide Presentation Of Doom". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2020-03-07.
- "Sequoia seeks $7bn to invest in US and Asian start-ups". Financial Times. 2020-03-20. Retrieved 2020-03-07.