Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund Nearing Close of $6 Billion Growth Fund
According to sources close to the firm, Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund is on the verge of closing its fourth growth fund, Founders Fund Growth IV, with a total of $6 billion in capital commitments. Like previous fundraises by the firm, the demand from outside investors for this fund exceeds its capacity. Interestingly, around $1.5 billion of the capital is being contributed by the Founders Fund’s partners themselves, as per one of the sources informed JS.
The timing of this new fundraise is quite remarkable, coming less than a year after the closure of Founders Fund’s third growth fund, a $4.6 billion vehicle primarily focused on follow-on investments in successful late-stage companies.
With a 21-year history, Founders Fund boasts an impressive portfolio of winning startups. The firm was an early investor in notable companies such as AI cloud computing company Crusoe, workforce management platform Rippling, and fintech giants Stripe and Ramp.
In addition to these successes, Founders Fund was the first institutional investor in data analytics powerhouse Palantir Technologies and also holds stakes in several defense tech companies, including SpaceX, Flock Safety, and Anduril. Notably, Anduril, co-founded by Founders Fund partner Trae Stephens, is reportedly in the process of raising a massive $4 billion round at a $60 billion valuation.
However, Founders Fund’s growth-stage ambitions extend beyond its existing portfolio. Just last month, the San Francisco-based firm made its initial direct investment in Anthropic, co-leading a $30 billion investment with other prominent firms into the leading AI lab at a staggering $380 billion post-money valuation. This move solidifies Founders Fund’s position as one of the few firms with significant stakes in both leading AI labs, including OpenAI.
Despite its focus on raising growth capital, Founders Fund has not launched a new early-stage fund since early 2022 when it introduced its eighth early-stage fund with $1.8 billion in capital commitments. In 2023, the firm made adjustments to this fund, reducing it to $900 million due to changing market conditions. The remaining $900 million was reallocated into a separate early-stage fund that officially launched in October of the same year.
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When contacted for a statement, Founders Fund declined to comment on the matter.
