Reid Hoffman, Angel Investor and LinkedIn Co-Founder, Joins the Firm as Partner While Continuing as LinkedIn Executive Chairman
SAN MATEO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Greylock Partners, a Silicon Valley venture capital firm, today announced the closing of Greylock XIII, a $575 million fund. The firm also announced the addition of a new investing partner, LinkedIn Co-Founder and Executive Chairman Reid Hoffman.
Greylock will use the funds to invest in and support promising enterprise and consumer software, services and infrastructure ventures.
“We are thankful to count among our investors some of the most sophisticated and respected university endowments and family foundations, many of which have been enthusiastic supporters of Greylock since our founding in 1965,” says Greylock Partner Bill Helman.
“In this difficult environment, all investors need to be particularly selective about the funds in which they invest,” says Andrew K. Golden, President, Princeton University Investment Co. “We are enthusiastic about Greylock and pleased that the firm allows us to be such a close partner. Our investment in Greylock XIII represents the lion’s share of the commitments we plan to make to venture capital funds this year.”
“Over the past forty-four years we have partnered with entrepreneurs to build hundreds of successful businesses, 150 of which have gone on to IPOs and another 100 of which have gone on to profitable M&A events,” says Greylock Partner Aneel Bhusri. “We look forward to partnering with the next generation of entrepreneurs to help them create strong, significant businesses.”
Recent and current consumer companies Greylock has supported include Digg, Facebook, Farecast (Microsoft), LinkedIn, Pandora, and ZipCar. Recent and current enterprise companies Greylock has supported include Cloudera, Constant Contact (CTCT), Data Domain (EMC), Data Robotics, OutlookSoft (SAP), Palo Alto Networks, Polyserve (HP), Red Hat (RHT), Success Factors (SFSF), Wily Technology (CA), and Workday.
Reid Hoffman joins Greylock as a partner. He will remain active day-to-day at LinkedIn as Executive Chairman. In his role at Greylock Partners, Hoffman will invest in promising early-stage consumer Internet and software ventures, as well as coach and advise entrepreneurs of Greylock portfolio companies.
“I have worked closely with Reid as a board director at LinkedIn for the past five years and am thrilled to welcome him to the partnership,” says David Sze, a partner at Greylock. Sze leads the firm’s investments in LinkedIn as well as Digg, Facebook, Pandora and others. “At Greylock we place a high value on hiring partners with deep operating experience at companies with explosive growth. Reid also possesses a unique understanding of consumer behavior and the dynamics of viral businesses, and that has made him one of the most sought after advisors to start-ups.”
“As a Greylock entrepreneur I witnessed firsthand the firm’s ability to help entrepreneurs become successful by focusing on company building and staying true to the firm’s values. I look forward to continuing that legacy,” says Hoffman. “I am deeply passionate about partnering with entrepreneurs to build companies that make a lasting impact.”
An accomplished entrepreneur, executive and investor, Hoffman has played an integral part in building many of today’s leading consumer technology businesses. Hoffman co-founded LinkedIn, the world’s largest professional networking service, in 2003. Today LinkedIn counts 50 million members in 200 countries. Reid led LinkedIn through its first four years and has held multiple positions there, including chief executive, president and chairman.
Prior to LinkedIn Hoffman served as executive vice president at PayPal, where he was a founding board member. Previously he co-founded Socialnet.com and worked at Fujitsu Software Corp. and Apple Computer. Hoffman is a Director at Kiva.org, Mozilla Corp., Six Apart and Zynga. He has been an angel investor in numerous influential Internet companies, including Digg, Facebook, Flickr, Last.fm, Ning, Six Apart and Zynga.
Hoffman earned a Master’s degree in Philosophy from Oxford University, where he was a Marshall Scholar, and a Bachelor’s degree in Symbolic Systems from Stanford University, where he graduated with distinction.
About Greylock
Greylock has partnered with entrepreneurs for 44 years to help them build market-leading businesses. Among the companies Greylock has supported are Ascend Communications, CheckFree, CipherTrust, Cloudera, Constant Contact, Continental Cable, Decru, Data Domain, digg, DoubleClick, Facebook, Farecast, Internet Security Systems, Ikanos, Legato, LinkedIn, Media Metrix, Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Openwave, Open Market, Pandora, Red Hat, RightNow Technologies, Success Factors, Tellabs, Trilogy, Wily Technology, Workday and Zipcar.
Greylock operates in a number of global centers of innovation, including Boston, China (Beijing), India (Bangalore), Israel (Herzliya) and Silicon Valley. For more information about Greylock Partners, please visit www.greylock.com or http://www.facebook.com/greylock.
