Contrarian VC, San Francisco

Founders Fund

Venture capital firm · San Francisco · Founded 2005

Quick read

Founders Fund is a San Francisco-based venture capital firm founded in 2005 by Peter Thiel and partners from the PayPal mafia. It backs companies building what it calls 'revolutionary technologies,' taking contrarian bets across all stages, sectors, and geographies. Its partners have founded or funded PayPal, Palantir, SpaceX, Anduril, Airbnb, and Stripe.

Key facts

Founded
2005
Founders
Peter Thiel
Employees
11-50
Sectors
generalist, ai, hardware
Website
foundersfund.com

Investment thesis

Founders Fund backs scientists and engineers solving hard problems where technological progress has stalled — defence, space, biotech, and AI — taking concentrated bets on founders capable of building companies that change entire industries, not just markets.

Recent activity

  • Apr 2026investment
    Hermeus raised $350M at a $1B valuation in a round that included Founders Fund, Khosla Ventures, RTX, and Bling Capital. tracxn.com
  • Apr 2026investment
    Hightouch raised $150M in a Series D at a $2.75B valuation for its AI marketing platform, with Founders Fund participating alongside IconiQ and Bain Capital Ventures. tracxn.com
  • Apr 2026investment
    Portfolio company Literati was acquired by Trustbridge Partners, marking one of 129 total portfolio acquisitions tracked for Founders Fund. tracxn.com
  • Apr 2025fundraise
    Founders Fund closed a $4.6B late-stage growth fund, Founders Fund Growth III, drawing capital from 270 investors. Peter Thiel, Napoleon Ta, and Trae Stephens serve as directors. investmentnews.com
  • 2025investment
    Poetic HQ raised $50M at a $500M valuation from Founders Fund, Kleiner Perkins, First Harmonic, and Genius Ventures to build an AI system that executes complex multi-hour tasks. x.com
  • Apr 2025fundraise
    Founders Fund closed Founders Fund Growth III, a $4.6 billion late-stage growth fund, drawing capital from 270 investors. Peter Thiel, Napoleon Ta, and Trae Stephens serve as directors. investmentnews.com
  • Apr 2026investment
    Hermeus raised $350 million at a $1 billion valuation, with Founders Fund among the investors. tracxn.com
  • Apr 2026investment
    Portfolio company Literati was acquired by Trustbridge Partners. tracxn.com
  • Apr 2026investment
    Hightouch raised a $150 million Series D at a $2.75 billion valuation for its AI marketing platform, with Founders Fund among backers alongside IconiQ and Bain Capital Ventures. tracxn.com
  • 2024investment
    Founders Fund led an $85 million seed round for SentientAGI (Sentient Foundation), a UAE-based decentralized, open-source AI platform. en.wikipedia.org
  • 2024investment
    Dirac secured a $10.7 million primary financing from Founders Fund and Coatue Management, alongside announcing a partnership with Siemens including Teamcenter integration. x.com
  • 2025investment
    Made 62 investments in 2025, its most active annual deployment on record per Tracxn data. tracxn.com

Notable investments

Key people

Named individuals at the firm. We don't expose direct email or phone — use their LinkedIn for outreach.

Sources

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Frequently asked

What is Founders Fund?+

Founders Fund is a San Francisco-based venture capital firm founded in 2005 by Peter Thiel and partners from the PayPal mafia. It backs companies building what it calls 'revolutionary technologies,' taking contrarian bets across all stages, sectors, and geographies.

Where is Founders Fund headquartered?+

Founders Fund is headquartered in San Francisco, United States.

When was Founders Fund founded?+

Founders Fund was founded in 2005 by Peter Thiel.

What sectors does Founders Fund invest in?+

Founders Fund focuses on generalist, ai, hardware. They primarily invest in these sectors.

How do I prepare for a meeting with Founders Fund?+

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Generated by briefthecall.com from public web sources. Last updated July 6, 2026. Each claim is linked to its source above.

Automatically generated by AI from public sources. May be inaccurate or out of date. Remove or correct this profile →