American venture capital firm
Benchmark
Company type
Private Industry
Venture capital Founded 1995; 29 years ago (1995 ) Founder
Bob Kagle Bruce Dunlevie
Andy Rachleff
Kevin Harvey Val Vaden Headquarters
140 New Montgomery
San Francisco, California ,
United States Key people
Matt Cohler , General Partner
Peter Fenton , General Partner
Bill Gurley , General Partner
Mitch Lasky , General Partner
Eric Vishria , General Partner Chetan Puttagunta, General Partner Sarah Tavel, General Partner Miles Grimshaw, General Partner Victor Lazarte, General Partner Website
www .benchmark .com
Benchmark is a
venture capital firm founded in 1995 by
Bob Kagle , Bruce Dunlevie,
Andy Rachleff ,
Kevin Harvey , and Val Vaden.
[1]
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 , Demandforce, 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]
WorldWinner ,
[46]
Xapo ,
[47]
Yelp, Inc. ,
[48]
Zendesk ,
[49]
Zillow ,
[50]
Zipcar ,
[51] and
Zuora .
[52]
[53]
Partner structure
Benchmark is noted for creating the first equal ownership and compensation structure for its partners.
[54] The "maverick" firm
[55] 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."
[55] While there are no differentiation between its "junior partners" and "senior partners," there is also no
CEO -like position held.
[56]
In popular culture
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.
[57]
See also
References
^
"Bill Gurley is stepping away from an active role at Benchmark, 21 years after joining the firm" . TechCrunch . Retrieved August 3, 2023 .
^
"Loans to EBay Provide a Big Payoff for Venture-Capital Firm" .
The Washington Post . April 9, 1999.
^ Muoio, Danielle.
"The early Uber investor suing Travis Kalanick turned its $12 million investment into $7 billion stake" .
Business Insider . Retrieved June 19, 2019 .
^
"Amplitude raises another $30M for its product-focused analytics tools" .
TechCrunch . August 10, 2017.
^
"Peter Thiel-backed workplace app Asana files for direct listing on NYSE" .
Reuters . August 24, 2020.
^
"Company" .
^ Lawler, Ryan (November 6, 2014).
"Benchmark Backs Real-Time Data Processing Startup Confluent" .
TechCrunch .
^ Novet, Jordan (June 4, 2015).
"Peter Fenton's latest investment is a database startup called Cockroach" .
VentureBeat .
^
"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.
^ Culter, Kim-Mai (September 18, 2013).
"Cyanogen Mod Raises $7M To Find A Direct-To-Consumer Route For Android Firmware" .
TechCrunch .
^ Perez, Sarah (November 6, 2019).
"Stealth fintech startup Digits raises $10.5 million Series A from Benchmark and others" .
TechCrunch .
^ Takahashi (February 10, 2015).
"Fates Forever mobile game maker Hammer & Chisel raises funding from Benchmark and Tencent" .
Venture Beat .
^ Lawler, Ryan (September 22, 2014).
"Two-Factor Authentication Startup Duo Security Raises $12 Million From Benchmark" .
TechCrunch .
^ Konrad, Alex.
"Domo Reveals Its Business Software, Raises $200 Million At $2 Billion Valuation" .
Forbes .
^ Lacy, Sarah (July 13, 2011).
"Series A Whopper: Benchmark Invests $33M in New BI Company Domo" .
TechCrunch .
^ Alex, Williams (January 21, 2014).
"Docker Raises $15M For Its Open-Source Platform That Helps Developers Build Apps In The Cloud" .
TechCrunch .
^ Konrad, Alex.
"The Benchmark Way: Five Partners Who Make Other VC Firms Look Outgunned And Overstaffed" . Forbes .
^ Gage, Deborah (May 28, 2014).
"HackerOne Emerges With $9 Million to Root Out Software Bugs" .
The Wall Street Journal .
^ Indvik, Lauren (February 2, 2011).
"Instagram Raises $7 Million, Hits 1.75M Members" . Mashable .
^ Gannes, Liz.
"Instagram Raises $7M Led by Benchmark" .
All Things Digital .
^
"Benchmark leads series B for marin software" .
The New York Times . April 7, 2008.
^ Roof, Katie (December 19, 2019).
"Venture Firm Benchmark Invests in Payments Startup as Sector Heats Up" . Wall Street Journal . Retrieved June 21, 2020 .
^ Cromwell, Schuberth (December 15, 2014).
"Big winners on New Relic, Hortonworks IPOs are mostly Benchmark, Peter Fenton" .
American City Business Journals .
^ Rao, Leena (November 16, 2011).
"Cloud App Management Platform New Relic Raises $15M From DAG, Benchmark" .
TechCrunch .
^ Chapman, Lizette (March 4, 2015).
"Valued at $1.1 Billion, Nextdoor's Pivot Appears to Be Paying Off" .
The Wall Street Journal .
^ Isaac, Mike (July 24, 2012).
"Nextdoor Raises $18.6M From Benchmark, Greylock in First Major Funding Round" .
^ Ha, Andrew (April 10, 2013).
"Website Testing Service Optimizely Raises $28M Round Led By Benchmark, Plans Global Expansion" . TechCrunch . Retrieved June 3, 2021 .
^
"ResearchGate brings in strong funding round for 'scientific Facebook' " .
The Guardian . September 8, 2010.
^ 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.
^ Wortham, Jenna (February 8, 2013).
"A Growing App Lets You See It, Then You Don't" .
The New York Times .
^ Primack, Dan (June 26, 2013).
"Snapchat's liquidity trap – The Term Sheet: Fortune's deals blogTerm Sheet" .
Fortune .
^ Winkler, Rolfe (February 3, 2017).
"Snap IPO Will Mint Fortunes for Founders, Two Big Investors" .
The Wall Street Journal .
^
"This Startup Wants to Be the OpenTable for Urgent Care" . Fortune . April 19, 2017.
^ Gannes, Liz (June 9, 2014).
"Happy Stitch Fix Investors Pump Another Round Into Personal Shopping Startup" . Re/code .
^ Kucera, Danielle (October 17, 2013).
"Stitch Fix Nabs $12 Million From Benchmark to Customize Commerce" .
^ Chapman, Lizette (October 4, 2013).
"Twitter Investor Benchmark Capital Gets Smaller Taste In Potbelly IPO" .
The Wall Street Journal .
^ Festa, Paul (January 2, 2002).
"Start-up Tellme grabs $47 million in financing" .
CNET .
^ Helft, Miguel (June 6, 2014).
"These are the venture firms celebrating Uber's massive $18B valuation" . Fortune .
^ Arrington, Michael (February 14, 2011).
"Huge Vote Of Confidence: Uber Raises $11 Million From Benchmark Capital" .
TechCrunch .
^
"AR startup Ubiquity6 lands $27M Series B to build a more user-friendly augmented reality" . TechCrunch . August 14, 2018.
^ Kafka, Peter (June 24, 2014).
"Jason Kilar's New Startup Has a Name, and a Whole Lot of Money" .
Recode .
^ Winkler, Rolfe (September 24, 2019).
"For WeWork Investor Benchmark, a Struggle to Balance Board Duties with Founder Support" .
The Wall Street Journal .
^
"WeWork U-turn reignites SoftBank and Benchmark battle" .
Financial Times . April 14, 2020.
^ Alex, Konrad.
"Inside The Phenomenal Rise Of WeWork" . Forbes .
^ Kosoff, Maya (June 24, 2015).
"WeWork, a startup that rents out office space to other startups, may soon be valued at $10 billion" .
Business Insider .
^
"WorldWinner scores $9.2 million" . CNET . Retrieved May 27, 2024 .
^ Rusli, Evelyn (March 13, 2014).
"Latest Bitcoin Craze? Actual Bank Vaults" .
The Wall Street Journal .
^ Empson, Rip (June 10, 2012).
"Twitter, Yelp Board Member Peter Fenton On How Enterprise Is Learning From The Consumer Web" .
TechCrunch .
^ Connie, Loizos (July 7, 2015).
"Benchmark's Newest Partner, Eric Vishria, On His First Year at the Powerhouse Firm" . TechCrunch .
^ Jackson, Eric.
"Interview With Bill Gurley: The Guy Who Backed OpenTable, Yelp, GrubHub, Twitter, Zillow And Uber" . Forbes .
^ Chapman, Lizette (January 2, 2013).
"For Venture Firms, Zipcar Purchase a Profitable but Disappointing Exit" .
The Wall Street Journal .
^ Schonfeld, Erick (March 13, 2008).
"Benchmark and Benioff Put $6.5 Million Into Zuora to Create a Salesforce for Online Billing" . TechCrunch .
^
"Benchmark, Marissa Mayer Put $5.5M In Stationery Design And Retail Site Minted" . TechCrunch. November 15, 2011.
^ 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 .
^
a
b Hempel, Jessi (February 11, 2013).
"Bill Gurley: The sage of Silicon Valley" . Fortune .
^ Konrad, Alex (March 25, 2015).
"The Benchmark Way: Five Partners Who Make Other VC Firms Look Outgunned And Overstaffed" . Forbes .
^ Clarendon, Dan (February 26, 2022).
"The Uber-Complex Battle Behind Showtime's 'Super Pumped' " . TV Insider . Retrieved May 1, 2023 .
External links
Investment types
History Terms and concepts
Investors Related financial terms