In the field of finance, private equity (PE) is stock in a private company that does not offer stock to the general public. Private equity is offered instead to specialized investment funds and limited partnerships that take an active role in the management and structuring of the companies. In casual usage, "private equity" can refer to these investment firms rather than the companies that they invest in.
Venture capital (VC) is a form of private equity financing that is provided by firms or funds to startup, early-stage, and emerging companies that have been deemed to have high growth potential or which have demonstrated high growth. Venture capital firms or funds invest in these early-stage companies in exchange for equity, or an ownership stake. Venture capitalists take on the risk of financing risky start-ups in the hopes that some of the companies they support will become successful. Because startups face high uncertainty, VC investments have high rates of failure. The start-ups are usually based on an innovative technology or business model and they are usually from high technology industries, such as information technology (IT), clean technology or biotechnology.
William Henry Draper III is an American venture capitalist.
The Crossroads Group was a Dallas-based private equity fund of funds firm focusing on venture capital investments. The firm, founded in 1981 by Brad Heppner, was acquired by Lehman Brothers in October 2003. Since Lehman Brothers' 2008 bankruptcy, Crossroads has been a part of Neuberger Berman.
Susquehanna International Group, LLP (SIG) is a privately-held global trading and technology firm. It consists of a number of affiliated entities specializing in trading and proprietary investments in equities, fixed income, energy, commodity, index, derivative products, private equity, and venture capital, research, customer trading, and institutional sales. The company is headquartered in Bala Cynwyd, a suburb of Philadelphia, US. The firm employs more than 1,900 people.
The history of private equity, venture capital, and the development of these asset classes has occurred through a series of boom-and-bust cycles since the middle of the 20th century. Within the broader private equity industry, two distinct sub-industries, leveraged buyouts and venture capital experienced growth along parallel, although interrelated tracks.
The early history of private equity relates to one of the major periods in the history of private equity and venture capital. Within the broader private equity industry, two distinct sub-industries, leveraged buyouts and venture capital experienced growth along parallel although interrelated tracks.
Private equity in the 1980s relates to one of the major periods in the history of private equity and venture capital. Within the broader private equity industry, two distinct sub-industries, leveraged buyouts and venture capital experienced growth along parallel although interrelated tracks.
DFJ Frontier is an American venture capital firm with offices in Los Angeles, Sacramento, and Santa Barbara, California as well as Portland, Oregon. The firm invests in seed and early-stage technology companies on the West Coast, initially funding companies with between $100,000 and $1 million. The firm has approximately $80 million under management in two funds, DFJ Frontier Fund I, LP and DFJ Frontier Fund II, LP. DFJ Frontier typically leads the first round of investment, with one of its partners serving on the board of the portfolio company.
General Atlantic, legal main entity General Atlantic Service Company, L.P., is an American growth equity firm providing capital and strategic support for global growth companies, headquartered in New York, United States. The firm was founded in 1980 as the captive investment team for Atlantic Philanthropies, a philanthropic organization founded by Charles F. Feeney, the billionaire co-founder of Duty Free Shoppers Ltd.
Sofinnova is the name shared by two venture capital firms, Sofinnova Partners and Sofinnova Ventures. The name Sofinnova is a contraction of the French, "Société de Financement de l’Innovation" or, Innovation Venture Capital Company. Both firms trace their roots back to Sofinnova SA, an investment institution founded in Paris in 1972. The two firms have raised ~$4B since inception and have generally shared a similar investment strategy of financing projects and ideas in the life sciences and technology sectors. The two firms distinguish themselves on the basis of their target geographies, stage of investment, and sectors. They have been independent entities since 1997.
Livingly Media is an American digital media company based in Redwood City, California that publishes six lifestyle sites for women: Livingly.com, Lonny.com, Mabelandmoxie.com, Itsrosy.com, Zimbio.com, and StyleBistro.com. The six sites publish original articles, high resolution photography, social videos, and games, reaching a combined audience of over 25 million global monthly readers, according to Quantcast. Livingly covers women's lifestyle, Lonny covers home design, Mabel + Moxie covers parenting, It's Rosy covers women 50+, Zimbio covers entertainment news, and StyleBistro covers celebrity fashion and beauty.
Impact investing refers to investments "made into companies, organizations, and funds with the intention to generate a measurable, beneficial social or environmental impact alongside a financial return". At its core, impact investing is about an alignment of an investor's beliefs and values with the allocation of capital to address social and/or environmental issues.
Sutter Hill Ventures is an American private equity firm focused on venture capital investments in technology-based start-up companies. Founded in 1964, Sutter Hill is one of the oldest venture capital firms still in operation. Based in Palo Alto, CA, the firm is primarily focused on investments in the fields of networking and computer technology, business and financial services, healthcare, web development, and pop culture, and have been known to invest in angel funds.
The Mulago Foundation is a private foundation focused on high impact philanthropy: investing in charities and philanthropic opportunities that have the highest impact. The foundation was originally envisioned by Rainer Arnhold, a San Francisco pediatrician and philanthropist, who taught at Mulago Hospital, Uganda. The foundation was officially created by his brother Henry Arnhold after Rainer Arnhold's death in 1993.
Watsi, legally Watsi, Inc., is a nonprofit healthcare crowdsourcing platform that enables individual donors to directly fund medical care for individuals in developing countries without access to affordable medical care.
The Peery Foundation is a private foundation based in Palo Alto, California, US. According to its website, it "primarily invests in early to mid-stage social entrepreneurs who are effectively addressing the issues of poverty." It funds local organizations in the Bay Area as well as organizations working to combat poverty and its ill-effects worldwide.
Started in 2002, Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation is a global venture philanthropy firm supporting social enterprises.
VinaCapital is one of the largest investment management firms in Vietnam. As of 2023, the firm has more than $3.9 billion in assets under management.
Molten Ventures, formerly Draper Esprit, is a venture capital firm, investing in high growth technology companies with global ambitions, with offices in London, Cambridge and Dublin. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange.
