Bessemer Venture Partners (BVP) is an American

venture capital Venture capital (VC) is a form of private equity financing provided by firms or funds to start-up company, startup, early-stage, and emerging companies, that have been deemed to have high growth potential or that have demonstrated high growth in ...

and

private equity Private equity (PE) is stock in a private company that does not offer stock to the general public; instead it is offered to specialized investment funds and limited partnerships that take an active role in the management and structuring of the co ...

firm headquartered in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

. Outside the United States, it has offices in India, Israel, Hong Kong, and the United Kingdom. In 2024,

Venture Capital Journal ''Venture Capital Journal'' (''VCJ'') is a monthly glossy magazine that covers investment trends, financing techniques and news from across the Venture Capital industry. The magazine, founded in 1961, focuses on venture capital and features expe ...

ranked the firm as the 3rd largest venture capital firm based on total fundraising over the most recent five-year period.

History

In 1911, Henry Phipps Jr., a co-founder of Carnegie Steel, formed Bessemer Trust in New York to manage his family's assets. In 1911, he spun out Bessemer Securities as a separate entity which had $20 million

assets under management In finance, assets under management (AUM), sometimes called fund under management, refers to the total market value of all financial assets that a financial institution—such as a mutual fund, venture capital firm, or depository institutio ...

which invested in venture capital deals, publicly traded securities and real estate. In 1974, Bessemer Trust opened up to outside investors although Bessemer Securities still managed only the capital of the Phipps family which allowed it to pursue more aggressive and riskier investment strategies such as investing in private technology and medical companies. In 1975, Bessemer Securities opened an office in

Silicon Valley Silicon Valley is a region in Northern California that is a global center for high technology and innovation. Located in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, it corresponds roughly to the geographical area of the Santa Clara Valley ...

. In the 1970s, Bessemer Securities suffered from significant losses due to real estate investments. In 1986, Bessemer Securities had $950 million assets under management and had continued to expand its investment team by hiring venture capital specialists. Eventually the venture capital investment operation of Bessemer Securities was spun out separately as Bessemer Venture Partners. Bessemer Securities is still considered the parent company of BVP as it provides funding and support to the firm. In 2000, BVP started investing in areas outside the U.S. which included India, Israel, Latin America and Europe. It also briefly had an office in China before closing it in 2006. Around this period, BVP set up a section on its website named Anti-Portfolio which contains a list of major investment opportunities it had missed. The list included

Apple Inc Apple Inc. is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, in Silicon Valley. It is best known for its consumer electronics, software, and services. Founded in 1976 as Apple Computer ...

EBay eBay Inc. ( , often stylized as ebay) is an American multinational e-commerce company based in San Jose, California, that allows users to buy or view items via retail sales through online marketplaces and websites in 190 markets worldwide. ...

Gateway, Inc Gateway, Inc., previously Gateway 2000, Inc., was an American computer company originally based in Iowa and South Dakota. Founded by Ted Waitt and Mike Hammond in 1985, the company developed, manufactured, supported, and marketed a wide range of ...

. and

Blue Nile The Blue Nile is a river originating at Lake Tana in Ethiopia. It travels for approximately through Ethiopia and Sudan. Along with the White Nile, it is one of the two major Tributary, tributaries of the Nile and supplies about 85.6% of the wa ...

. In 2007, BVP closed Bessemer Venture Partners VII which was its first fund that took capital from outside investors. Prior to that, capital was provided only by the Phipps Family or by Bessemer Securities. In 2021, BVP set up a

team and in September 2022, the team now called BVP Forge closed its first

buyout In finance, a buyout is an investment transaction by which the ownership equity, or a controlling interest of a company, or a majority share of the capital stock of the company is acquired. The acquirer thereby "buys out" the present equity holde ...

fund ($780M) alongside BVP's announcement of their 12th early stage fund ($3.85B).

References

External links

* {{authority control 1911 establishments in New York (state) American companies established in 1911 Companies based in Redwood City, California Corporate spin-offs Financial services companies established in 1911 Venture capital firms of the United States