The Funded: Steve Jurvetson raises $200M for new venture fund

Steve Jurvetson Maryanna Saenko  Future Ventures
Steve Jurvetson and Maryanna Saenko have launched a new San Francisco-based venture firm called Future Ventures.
Courtesy Photo
Cromwell Schubarth
By Cromwell Schubarth – TechFlash Editor, Silicon Valley Business Journal

Steve Jurvetson on Friday took the wraps off of Future Ventures, a San Francisco firm he co-founded with former Khosla Ventures principal Maryanna Saenko.

It has raised $200 million for its first fund, which will focus on environmentally sustainable transportation, food technology and high-power computer systems.

Jurvetson told the Wall Street Journal that the fund will charge premium fees and will invest over a 15-year period, rather than the usual 10 years.

Jurvetson 15 months ago left Draper Fisher Jurvetson after the firm investigated allegations that he behaved inappropriately toward women. He denied the allegations and said he stepped down under a mutual agreement.

Here is more founder and funder news just ahead of the long President's Day weekend.

There will be no TechFlash email on Monday nor The Funded. We're back next Wednesday.

Funding

  • Figma Inc., San Francisco, $40 million: Sequoia Capital led the Series C round of this startup whose technology allows developers to design, prototype and collaborate inside a browser. It was joined by Coatue Management, Founders Fund, LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner, Instagram cofounder Mike Krieger, Electronic Arts CEO Andrew Wilson and Dan Rose (VP Partnerships at Facebook), along with earlier investors Index Ventures, Greylock Partners and Kleiner Perkins.
  • Affinity, San Francisco, $26.5 million: Advance Venture Partners and Sway Ventures co-led the Series B round of this startup that aims to make it easier to surface key contacts.
  • Phylagen Inc., San Francisco, $14 million: Investors in the Series A round of this data analytics startup that says it's creating a microbial map of the world include Cultivian Sandbox, Breakout Ventures and Working Capital.
  • Elevate Security Inc., Berkeley, $8 million: Defy Partners led the Series A round of this security behavior platform provider. It was joined by Costanoa Ventures.

M&A

  • Boston-based Brightcove Inc. (NASDAQ:BCOV) agreed to buy the online video platform unit of San Jose-based Ooyala Inc., a company that was acquired by its management last year from Telstra.

Funders in the news

  • San Francisco-based 5AM Ventures raised $500 million across two life science funds.
  • New Silicon Valley venture firm Catapult Ventures launched this week with $55 million in capital commitments for very early-stage startups in the field of AI, machine learning, automation, robotics, and internet of things. It was co-founded by Rouz Jazayeri, a former Intel executive and partner at Kleiner Perkins; and Darren Liccardo, a former engineering executive at Tesla and drone company DJI.
  • San Francisco-based Spark Capital is raising $400 million for its sixth flagship fund, according to an SEC filing. It's also raising $800 million for its third growth equity fund.
  • Former Agios Pharmaceuticals CEO David Schenkein joined GV (formerly Google Ventures) as a general partner.
  • San Francisco-based FTV Capital promoted Adam Hallquist and Tyler Krueger to vice president; and Richard Liu to principal.
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