Benchmark is a
venture capital
Venture capital (often abbreviated as VC) is a form of private equity financing that is provided by venture capital firms or funds to startups, early-stage, and emerging companies that have been deemed to have high growth potential or which h ...
firm based in
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...
that provides
seed money to
startups.
History
The firm's most successful investment was a 1997 investment of $6.7 million in
eBay
eBay Inc. ( ) is an American multinational e-commerce company based in San Jose, California, that facilitates consumer-to-consumer and business-to-consumer sales through its website. eBay was founded by Pierre Omidyar in 1995 and became ...
for 22.1% of the company. In 2011, it invested $12 million for an 11% stake in
Uber
Uber Technologies, Inc. (Uber), based in San Francisco, provides mobility as a service, ride-hailing (allowing users to book a car and driver to transport them in a way similar to a taxi), food delivery ( Uber Eats and Postmates), pa ...
, worth $7 billion in 2019.
The firm's most infamous investment was in
WeWork, the troubled office rental social networking company. On April 1, 2012, Benchmark became WeWork's first major investor when it led WeWork’s $17 million Series-A seed funding.
Companies funded by the firm include
Dropbox,
Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
,
Uber
Uber Technologies, Inc. (Uber), based in San Francisco, provides mobility as a service, ride-hailing (allowing users to book a car and driver to transport them in a way similar to a taxi), food delivery ( Uber Eats and Postmates), pa ...
,
Snapchat
Snapchat is an American multimedia instant messaging app and service developed by Snap Inc., originally Snapchat Inc. One of the principal features of Snapchat is that pictures and messages are usually only available for a short time before the ...
,
Instagram
Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...
,
Discord,
[Takahashi]
"Fates Forever mobile game maker Hammer & Chisel raises funding from Benchmark and Tencent"
''Venture Beat
Venture may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
Music
* The Ventures, an American instrumental rock band formed in 1958
*"A Venture", 1971 song by the band Yes
*''Venture'', a 2010 EP by AJR
Games
* ''Venture'' (video game), a 1981 arcade ga ...
'', February 10, 2015. Domo,
New Relic,
Nextdoor,
Stitch Fix,
WeWork,
Yelp,
Zendesk,
Zillow
Zillow Group, Inc., or simply Zillow, is an American tech real-estate marketplace company that was founded in 2006, and was created by Rich Barton and Lloyd Frink, former Microsoft executives and founders of Microsoft spin-off Expedia; Spencer ...
and
Zipcar
Zipcar is an American car-sharing company and a subsidiary of Avis Budget Group. Zipcar provides vehicle reservations to its members, billable by the minute, hour or day; members may have to pay a monthly or annual membership fee in addition ...
.
Partner structure
Benchmark is noted for creating the first equal ownership and compensation structure for its partners. The "maverick" firm
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."
There is no differentiation between its "junior partners" and "senior partners," as each partner benefits equally from company profits. In addition, there is no
CEO
A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...
-like position held.
Offices
The firm announced in May 2012 it would be expanding beyond its
Menlo Park, California headquarters by opening a second headquarters with more than 10,000 square feet in San Francisco’s emerging tech corridor, the
Mid-Market neighborhood.
In popular culture
Benchmark Capital was featured in the
Apple TV+
Apple TV+ is an American subscription streaming service owned and operated by Apple Inc. Launched on November 1, 2019, it offers a selection of original production film and television series called Apple Originals. The service was announced ...
Original ''
WeCrashed'' starring
Jared Leto
Jared Joseph Leto ( ; born December 26, 1971) is an American actor and musician. Known for his method acting in a variety of roles, he has received numerous accolades over a career spanning three decades, including an Academy Award and a Gold ...
and
Anne Hathaway. In the show,
Anthony Edwards portrays Benchmark co-founder
Bruce Dunlevie, who on April 1, 2012, became WeWork's first major investor when it led WeWork's $17 million Series-A seed funding.
Benchmark was also featured in the
Showtime Original ''
Super Pumped
''Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber'' is a 2019 book by New York Times journalist Mike Isaac. The book covers the events between the founding of Uber and its initial public offering in 2019.
Background
The book was based on Mike Isaac's co ...
'' starring
Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Joseph Leonard Gordon-Levitt (; born February 17, 1981) is an American actor. He has received various accolades, including nominations for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for his leading performances ...
. In the series,
Kyle Chandler plays Benchmark General Partner
Bill Gurley, portraying his involvement in leading Ubers' $11 million round of fundraising in February of 2011.
Investments
Benchmark has invested in more than 250 startups since its inception in 1995, including:
See also
*
Michael Eisenberg
Michael Eisenberg () (born May 18, 1971) is an American-born Israeli businessman, venture capitalist and author.
Biography
Michael Eisenberg was born in Manhattan, New York, the eldest of seven children. His father was a lawyer and his mother ...
References
External links
Official website
{{Private equity and venture capital
Venture capital firms of the United States
Companies based in Menlo Park, California
Financial services companies established in 1995