Founders Fund completes the largest fundraising in history, raising $6 billion

ChainCatcher News, according to market sources, top Silicon Valley investor Peter Thiel’s venture capital fund, Founders Fund, has raised $6 billion to invest in late-stage companies, marking the largest fundraising drive in the firm’s history.

Of that amount, most—$4.5 billion—came from limited partners, including sovereign wealth funds. An insider said the remaining $1.5 billion came from Founders Fund’s senior executives and employees, including Peter Thiel himself. The fund’s fourth growth-stage investment vehicle was assembled rapidly less than a year after the previous fund launched, making it the fastest replacement of new funds in Founders Fund’s 20-year history.

Launching a larger fund so quickly reflects the rising need for massive financing among early-stage companies at a mature phase—companies that are increasingly inclined to raise capital from private investors rather than public markets. Other venture capital firms are also raising billions of dollars for late-stage investments, partly because technology companies need more funding to cover expensive computing resources. For example, Sequoia Capital recently raised about $7 billion for a new fund to increase investments in large companies; Thrive Capital also raised a $10 billion fund, its largest ever.