Benchmark_(venture_capital_firm)

Benchmark (venture capital firm)

Benchmark (venture capital firm)

American venture capital firm

Benchmark is a venture capital firm founded in 1995 by Bob Kagle, Bruce Dunlevie, Andy Rachleff, Kevin Harvey, and Val Vaden.[1]

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Investments

The firm's most successful investment was a 1997 investment of $6.7 million in eBay for 22.1% of the company.[2] In 2011, it invested $12 million for an 11% stake in Uber, worth $7 billion in 2019 and $9.4 billion in 2023.[3]

Notable companies funded by the firm include 1-800-Flowers, Amplitude,[4]AOL, Art.com/Allposters.com, Asana,[5] Baixing, CTERA Networks, Cerebras Systems,[6] Confluent,[7] Cockroach Labs,[8] CouchSurfing,[9] Cyanogen,[10] Digits,[11] Discord,[12] Duo Security,[13] Domo, Inc.,[14][15] Docker,[16] Dropbox,[17] EBags.com, eBay, Friendster, HackerOne[18] Instagram,[19][20] JAMDAT, Juniper Networks, Marin Software,[21] Metacafe, Minted, Modern Treasury,[22] MySQL, New Relic,[23][24] Nextdoor,[25][26] OpenTable, Optimizely,[27] Palm, Inc., ResearchGate,[28] Seeking Alpha, ServiceSource, Sketch,[29] Snapchat,[30][31][32] Solv,[33] Stitch Fix,[34][35] Twitter,[36] Tellme Networks,[37] Uber,[38][39] Ubiquity6,[40] Vessel,[41] WeWork,[42][43][44][45] Xapo,[46] Yelp, Inc.,[47] Zendesk,[48] Zillow,[49] Zipcar,[50] and Zuora.[51][52]

Partner structure

Benchmark is noted for creating the first equal ownership and compensation structure for its partners.[53] The "maverick" firm[54] differs from most VC firms, which are named for their founders and are structured hierarchically; Benchmark was described by Fortune as "a lean operation in which its six full-time partners share profits equally."[54] While there are no differentiation between its "junior partners" and "senior partners," there is also no CEO-like position held.[55]

Benchmark Capital was featured in the Apple TV+ original TV series WeCrashed starring Jared Leto and Anne Hathaway. In the show, Anthony Edwards portrays Benchmark co-founder Bruce Dunlevie, who became WeWork's first major investor on the 1st of April in 2012 when Benchmark led WeWork's $17 million Series-A seed funding.[citation needed]

Benchmark was also featured in the Showtime original Super Pumped starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt. In the series, Kyle Chandler plays Benchmark General Partner Bill Gurley, portraying his involvement in leading Ubers' $11 million round of fundraising in February 2011.[56]

See also

References

  1. [1]
    "Bill Gurley is stepping away from an active role at Benchmark, 21 years after joining the firm". TechCrunch. Retrieved August 3, 2023.
  2. [2]
    "Loans to EBay Provide a Big Payoff for Venture-Capital Firm". The Washington Post. April 9, 1999.
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    Muoio, Danielle. "The early Uber investor suing Travis Kalanick turned its $12 million investment into $7 billion stake". Business Insider. Retrieved June 19, 2019.
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    "Amplitude raises another $30M for its product-focused analytics tools". TechCrunch. August 10, 2017.
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    "Peter Thiel-backed workplace app Asana files for direct listing on NYSE". Reuters. August 24, 2020.
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    "Company".
  7. [7]
    Lawler, Ryan (November 6, 2014). "Benchmark Backs Real-Time Data Processing Startup Confluent". TechCrunch.
  8. [8]
    Novet, Jordan (June 4, 2015). "Peter Fenton's latest investment is a database startup called Cockroach". VentureBeat.
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    "CouchSurfing Raises $7.6 Million in Series A From Benchmark Capital and Omidyar Network to Expand Services and Fuel Growth in Cultural Exchange Network" (Press release). PR Newswire. August 25, 2011.
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    Culter, Kim-Mai (September 18, 2013). "Cyanogen Mod Raises $7M To Find A Direct-To-Consumer Route For Android Firmware". TechCrunch.
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    Perez, Sarah (November 6, 2019). "Stealth fintech startup Digits raises $10.5 million Series A from Benchmark and others". TechCrunch.
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    Takahashi (February 10, 2015). "Fates Forever mobile game maker Hammer & Chisel raises funding from Benchmark and Tencent". Venture Beat.
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    Loizos, Connie (March 13, 2019). "Sketch, maker of popular design tools, just landed $20 million in Series A funding from Benchmark in its first outside round". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on March 14, 2019.
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    Festa, Paul (January 2, 2002). "Start-up Tellme grabs $47 million in financing". CNET.
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    "AR startup Ubiquity6 lands $27M Series B to build a more user-friendly augmented reality". TechCrunch. August 14, 2018.
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    Kafka, Peter (June 24, 2014). "Jason Kilar's New Startup Has a Name, and a Whole Lot of Money". Recode.
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    Winkler, Rolfe (September 24, 2019). "For WeWork Investor Benchmark, a Struggle to Balance Board Duties with Founder Support". The Wall Street Journal.
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    Alex, Konrad. "Inside The Phenomenal Rise Of WeWork". Forbes.
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    Empson, Rip (June 10, 2012). "Twitter, Yelp Board Member Peter Fenton On How Enterprise Is Learning From The Consumer Web". TechCrunch.
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    Jackson, Eric. "Interview With Bill Gurley: The Guy Who Backed OpenTable, Yelp, GrubHub, Twitter, Zillow And Uber". Forbes.
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    Schonfeld, Erick (March 13, 2008). "Benchmark and Benioff Put $6.5 Million Into Zuora to Create a Salesforce for Online Billing". TechCrunch.
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  53. [53]
    Stross, Randall (December 29, 2009). eBoys: The First Inside Account of Venture Capitalists at Work. Ballantine Books (May 29, 2001). p. 89. ISBN 978-0-345-42889-9.
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    Hempel, Jessi (February 11, 2013). "Bill Gurley: The sage of Silicon Valley". Fortune.
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    Clarendon, Dan (February 26, 2022). "The Uber-Complex Battle Behind Showtime's 'Super Pumped'". TV Insider. Retrieved May 1, 2023.
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