Foundation Capital is a Silicon Valley venture capital firm founded in October 1995 by Bill Elmore, Kathryn Gould and Jim Anderson. With over $6 billion in assets under management as of 2023, the firm has invested in more than 400 companies and recorded over 120 exits through acquisitions and initial public offerings. Its most famous early call needs little introduction: Foundation Capital was one of Netflix's original investors.

Most of the firm's investments fall under fintech, enterprise software and consumer. Its signature posture is backing founders at inception — from day zero — long before consensus forms around a company. Its homepage carries testimony from founders of Solana, Sunrun, Cerebras, Tennr, Eightfold and Turing, each describing a firm that believed early and stayed committed for the long haul.

Fund history and stage

Foundation Capital invests from seed through growth across eleven flagship funds: Fund VII closed in 2013 with $282 million, Fund VIII in 2015 with $325 million, Fund IX in 2019 with $350 million, Fund X in 2022 with $500 million — raised after early investments in Solana, Turing, Eightfold, Cerebras and Jasper — and Fund XI in 2024 with $600 million. The firm's stated ethos is that every partner was an entrepreneur before joining the firm, and it runs with what it calls an entrepreneurial spirit: backing promising companies in their formative stages.

Portfolio highlights

Beyond Netflix, the portfolio spans landmark enterprise and fintech outcomes. Solana, co-founded by Anatoly Yakovenko, became one of the defining blockchain platforms of its generation. Cerebras, led by Andrew Feldman, builds wafer-scale AI chips. Turing, founded by Jonathan Siddharth, is a major AI talent and engineering platform. Eightfold, co-founded by Ashutosh Garg, applies AI to talent intelligence. Sunrun, led by Lynn Jurich, grew into America's largest residential solar company, while Tennr, co-founded by Trey Holterman, is automating healthcare referrals. Jasper became Austin's newest unicorn at a $1.5 billion valuation in 2022.

People and programmes

Because its partners come from operating backgrounds rather than pure finance, Foundation Capital positions itself as a firm where, in its own words, the venture matters more than the capital. For pre-idea and idea-stage founders it runs the Build Accelerator — with no equity, no fees and no catch — designed to help founders turn a technical insight into a real, scalable product, with direct access to Foundation Capital partners and its extended network. Current programmes include Cal Build and IIT Build, the latter an exclusive network of IIT graduates based in the Bay Area working on B2B companies — a direct bridge for Indian-origin technical founders in Silicon Valley.

Why it matters for founders

Foundation Capital is the reference point for patient, day-zero enterprise investing — thirty years, eleven funds and a portfolio that spans Netflix to Solana. If you are building in enterprise software, fintech or AI infrastructure, this is a firm that writes early cheques and stays for decades. And its no-equity Build Accelerator, including the IIT-focused track, is a genuine on-ramp for founders who are still at the idea stage.