Craft Ventures Explained
Craft Ventures is a venture capital firm based in San Francisco which makes early stage venture investments. Craft was founded in 2017 by David O. Sacks and Bill Lee.[1]
Background
Craft was founded in 2017 by David O. Sacks, formerly of Yammer and PayPal[2] and Bill Lee,[3] [4] formerly of Remarq and Big Fish Games. Jeff Fluhr,[5] founder and former CEO of StubHub, joined as general partner in 2018 and Sky Dayton, founder of EarthLink and Boingo Wireless, joined as venture partner the same year.
Craft announced its first fund of $350 million in January 2018[6] and its second fund of $500M in October 2019.[7]
Funds
Craft Ventures I ($350 million) was raised in 2017.[8] [9]
Craft Ventures II ($500 million) was raised in 2019.[10]
In August 2021, Craft announced the closing of Craft Ventures III ($612 million) and Craft Ventures Growth I ($510 million), focusing on SaaS businesses and marketplace businesses.[11] [12]
In November 2023, Craft announced the closing of Craft Ventures IV ($712 million) and Craft Ventures Growth II ($608 million).[13]
Notable Exits
!Company!Year of investment!Investment type!Exit[14] | CloudKitchens | 2017 | Series A (Co-Lead) | Acquired by 10100 in 2019 |
| Harbor | 2017 | Seed | Acquired by Bitgo in February 2020 |
| Lumina | 2018 | Seed (Lead) | Acquired by Bitgo in April 2020 | |
Notes and References
- News: Primack . Dan . David Sacks teams with Bill Lee to raise $350 million VC fund . Axios . 4 January 2018. 3 June 2018.
- Web site: Chernova, Yuliya. David Sacks Looks to Raise Up to $500 Million for Second Craft Ventures Fund . The Wall Street Journal. 29 October 2018.
- News: Primack . Dan . Ex-Zenefits CEO David Sacks raising VC fund . Axios . 6 October 2017. 3 June 2018.
- News: Jackson . Eric . Ex-PayPal executive David Sacks explains how his new company will change crypto trading . CNBC . 6 February 2018. 3 June 2018.
- Web site: Jeff Fluhr. Bloomberg. 1 November 2018.
- News: Calacanis . Jason . David Sacks Craft Ventures $350m raise, big Bird bet, VR, crypto, Yammer, Zenefits, investing . This Week in Startups . 20 July 2018. 24 August 2020.
- News: Loizos . Connie . David Sacks's Craft Ventures just closed its second fund with $500 million . Techcrunch.com . 15 October 2019. 24 August 2020.
- Web site: CRAFT VENTURES I, L.P. :: California (US) :: OpenCorporates. 2021-10-30. opencorporates.com.
- Web site: Craft Ventures I Palico. 2021-10-30. www.palico.com.
- Web site: Craft Ventures II Palico. 2021-10-30. www.palico.com.
- Web site: Fluhr. Jeff. 2021-08-04. Announcing Craft III: $1.1 Billion for SaaS and Marketplaces. 2021-10-30. Craft Ventures. en.
- Web site: 2021-08-14. Craft Ventures Launches its $1.2 Billion Fund for SaaS and Marketplace Startups. 2021-10-30. Crowdfund Insider. en-US.
- Web site: FinSMEs . 2023-11-14 . Craft Ventures Raises $1.32 Billion for Two Funds . 2024-06-05 . FinSMEs . en-US.
- Web site: Craft Ventures Our Portfolio. 2021-06-11. www.craftventures.com.
