Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers is a Silicon Valley venture capital (VC) firm. For over five decades, Kleiner Perkins (previously known as Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers) has invested in technology and life science companies.
The firm has backed companies such as Sun Microsystems, Compaq Computer Corp., Lotus, Netscape Communications Corp., America Online Inc., and Amazon with a combined market cap of about $650 billion. KP's partners assemble management teams and often sit on boards of the companies they sponsor. An informal version of the Japanese "keiretsu" system encourages resource sharing and deal making among KP-backed companies.
Investments
Over the past 50 years, Kleiner Perkins has invested $10 billion in hundreds of companies like Amazon, Google and Genentech.
KP tries to eliminate risk in all areas of ventures: technological risk, financial risk, operating risk, and market risk. In its first decade, Kleiner Perkins invested in about 50 companies, mostly high-tech Silicon Valley start-ups, through three funds totaling $78 million. These funds were reportedly averaging annual returns of 50 percent.
One of KPCB's more notorious investments of the decade was in Go Corporation, whose purpose was developing a pen-operated computer. The company collapsed after spending six years and $75 million on the project. KPCB VI, the firm's sixth fund, raised $173 million in 1992; it returned $878 million in the next ten years.
Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers - China
KPCB China's investment advisory team was founded in 2007 with the goal of building a dialog between entrepreneurs and investors in China. Kleiner Perkins focus their global investments in China due to China's rapidly growing economy and startup culture. The advisory team operates independently and focuses on Digital, Green Tech and Life science opportunities. The investment advisory team is focused on identifying and promoting innovation and supporting entrepreneurs and portfolio companies.
Timeline
KP 18 fund announced
Kleiner Perkins announces their 18th venture fund: $600 million to focus on early stage investing
Funded Companies
Biotechnology company that discovers, develops, manufactures and commercializes therapeutic products for serious or life-threatening medical conditions. Disease areas include oncology, immunology, ophthalmology, metabolism and virology. Genentech has been a member of the Roche Group since 2009.
Beyond Meat makes plant-based meat alternatives such as burgers, sausages, chicken strips, and ground beef. Beyond Meat was founded in 2009 by Ethan Brown and is based in Los Angeles, California.
AngelList is a U.S. website for startups, angel investors, and job-seekers looking to work at startups.
Desktop Metal is a Burlington, Massachusetts-based metal 3D printing company founded in 2015 by Ric Fulop, Jonah Myerberg, and Ely Sachs.
A technology company that has developed solutions for making and receiving payments. It was founded in 2009 and is located in San Francisco, California.
A telemedicine service company that delivers oral contraceptives and various testing kits to its customers. It was founded in 2015 and has headquarters in San Francisco, California.
Brex is a credit card company that issues corporate credit cards.
Payroll and benefits company. It participated in the W12 cohort of Y Combinator.
Looker is a business intelligence software company providing data access tools to organizations and data analysts.
American home automation producer
Nextdoor is a company providing a private communications platform for neighborhoods.It was founded in 2011 and is located in San Francisco, California.
UiPath is a software company designing and developing robotic process automation software.
Atoms makes shoes for everyday wear. Made with elastic laces, copper lining, breathable materials, and simple design.
A mobile application allowing its users access their office, building or apartment
Snapchat, a product of Snap Inc., is a free image messaging application and augmented reality platform.
Dollar Shave Club offers a monthly membership service that delivers stainless steel razor blades and other personal grooming products to customers by mail.
A technology company developing and providing a communications platform for web and mobile businesses to interact with customers.
A company offering an online platform for collaborative design in team environments.
SmileCareClub is a company that offers aligner therapy using a series of plastic aligners that gradually shift teeth into desired position.
LendUp is a company building credit products that cater people with low credit or volatile income. It participated in the W12 cohort of Y Combinator.
Plaid is a company providing businesses with tools and access to develop a digital financial system.
Practice Fusion is a San Francisco-based developer of electronic health record and medical practice management software.
Instacart is an internet-based grocery delivery service company.
A software company providing cloud-based employee management solutions. It combines human resources, information technology, and operations. It was founded in 2016 and has locations in San Francisco, California and Bangalore, India.
Associated investment funds
People
Al Gore
Advisor
Alicia Lau
Fellows Program Manager
Amanda Duckworth
Chief Marketing OFficer
Andy Chen
Employee
Anjney Midha
Employee
Annie Case
Investor
Beth Seidenberg
Advisor
Bing Gordon
Advisor
Brook Byers
Founder
Bucky Moore
Partner
Colin Powell
Advisor
David Mount
Employee
Eric Feng
Advisor
Ilya Fushman
Partner
Jackie Xu
Talent
Jason Doren
CAO & General Counsel
Josh Coyne
Investor
Katie Hutchison
Communications
Ker Zhang
Entrepreneur in Residence
KPCB
Employee
Lynne Chou O' Keefe
Advisor
Mamoon Hamid
Partner
Michael Abbott
Employee
Monica Desai
Investor
Further reading
Documentaries, videos and podcasts
Companies
References
Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers
Company attributes
Venture Capital Firm attributes
Categories
Related Topics
Contributors
- 1
Rebecca Hammond
MA English I HDip Psychology - Following AI, behavioural and educational psychology - 2
Jed Christiansen
Special Projects & Business Development at Golden, Founder - Seed-DB. - 3
Aime Anne Nisay
QA Engineer of web and mobile applications - 4
Carla Faraguna
Golden People and Operations. - 5
Joshua Elkington
Axial - 6
Jason D. Rowley
Golden researcher based in Chicago, IL. - 7
Neelam Jhaveri
Techno Geek + Gamer + Fashionista + Sense of Humor = It's ME - 8
Melanie Manipula
Researcher, writer and a former librarian - 9
Dawson Sewell
Seeking to explain science and technology through simple writing.
