Sequoia Capital

Sequoia Capital Operations, LLC
Private
Industry Venture capital
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
Neil Shen
Website www.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]

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, 33, as an investing partner, making her Sequoia's first female investing partner[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]

The company invests mainly in companies based in the United States for early and seed stage investments. It invests between $100,000 and $1 million in seed stage, between $1 million and $10 million in early stage, and between $10 million and $100 million in growth stage.[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]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Mazel tov, Israeli startups: Sequoia Capital raise $200M to fund you, Meghan Kelly, August 23, 2012, Venture Beat, retrieved May 12, 2016
  2. ↑ Secretive, Sprawling Network of ‘Scouts’ Spreads Money Through Silicon Valley, Rolfe Winkler, November 12, 2015, Wall Street Journal, retrieved May 12, 2016
  3. 1 2 3 "Inside Sequoia Capital: Silicon Valley's Innovation Factory". Forbes. Retrieved 2015-12-03.
  4. ↑ Sequoia Capital reportedly mulling new $800M India fund, may start raising October, Michael De Waal-Montgomery, VentureBeat, retrieved May 12, 2016
  5. ↑ Sequoia Capital raises more than $1 billion for startups, Dan Primack, August 15, 2013, Forunte, retrieved May 12, 2016
  6. ↑ Sequoia's Neil Shen Tops Forbes China Ranking Of Best Venture Capital Investors, Russell Flannery, January 15, 2014, Forbes, retrieved May 12, 2016
  7. ↑ With WhatsApp deal, Sequoia Capital burnishes reputation, Sarah McBride, February 21, 2014, Reuters, retrieved May 12, 2016
  8. ↑ Israel's Most Important Source of Capital: California, Darwin Bond-Graham, August 20, 2014, CounterPunch.org, retrieved May 9, 2016
  9. ↑ How Neil Shen Built A Winner At Sequoia Capital China, April 2, 2014, Alex Konrad, Forbes, retrieved March 30, 2016
  10. ↑ "How Sequoia Capital India became Asia's most prolific venture capital firm". Quartz. Retrieved 2015-12-03.
  11. ↑ Sequoia Capital leads the venture capital pack, Kent Bernhard Jr, March 15, 2013, Upstart, retrieved May 9, 2016
  12. 1 2 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.
  13. ↑ Kulwin, Noah (3 December 2015). "Venerated VC Michael Moritz Opens Mouth, Inserts Foot on Question About Hiring Women". Recode. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
  14. ↑ 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.
  15. ↑ Guynn, Jessica (December 3, 2015). "Michael Moritz taking heat for comments about hiring women". USA Today. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
  16. ↑ Fox, Emily Jane (December 3, 2015). "Silicon Valley V.C. Firm Can't Find Any Women". Vanity Fair. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
  17. ↑ Chang, Emily (December 3, 2015). "Michael Moritz Amends Remarks About Lack of Female Investors at Sequoia". Bloomberg. Retrieved November 27, 2016.
  18. ↑ Garner, Rochelle (October 20, 2016). "VC Moritz, unable to find qualified women, finally hires one". CNET. Retrieved November 27, 2016.
  19. 1 2 "Sequoia Capital website". September 4, 2013.
  20. ↑ Rao, Leena (December 17, 2012). "Sequoia Raises $700M For Global Growth Fund". Tech Crunch.
  21. ↑ "Inside Sequoia Capital: Silicon Valley's Innovation Factory". George Anders.

External links

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