Benchmark Capital
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Benchmark is a
venture capital Venture capital (often abbreviated as VC) is a form of private equity financing that is provided by venture capital firms or funds to startups, early-stage, and emerging companies that have been deemed to have high growth potential or which ha ...
firm based in
San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
that provides
seed money Seed money, sometimes known as seed funding or seed capital, is a form of securities offering in which an investor invests capital in a startup company in exchange for an equity stake or convertible note stake in the company. The term ''seed'' ...
to startups.


History

The firm's most successful investment was a 1997 investment of $6.7 million in
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for 22.1% of the company. In 2011, it invested $12 million for an 11% stake in
Uber Uber Technologies, Inc. (Uber), based in San Francisco, provides mobility as a service, ride-hailing (allowing users to book a car and driver to transport them in a way similar to a taxi), food delivery (Uber Eats and Postmates), package ...
, worth $7 billion in 2019. The firm's most infamous investment was in
WeWork WeWork Inc. is a provider of coworking spaces, including physical and virtual shared spaces, headquartered in New York City. As of December 31, 2021, the company operated of space, including in the United States and Canada, in 756 locatio ...
, the troubled office rental social networking company. On April 1, 2012, Benchmark became WeWork's first major investor when it led WeWork’s $17 million Series-A seed funding. Companies funded by the firm include
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,
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,
Uber Uber Technologies, Inc. (Uber), based in San Francisco, provides mobility as a service, ride-hailing (allowing users to book a car and driver to transport them in a way similar to a taxi), food delivery (Uber Eats and Postmates), package ...
,
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,
Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...
,
Discord Discord is a VoIP and instant messaging social platform. Users have the ability to communicate with voice calls, video calls, text messaging, media and files in private chats or as part of communities called "servers".The developer documenta ...
,Takahashi
"Fates Forever mobile game maker Hammer & Chisel raises funding from Benchmark and Tencent"
''
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'', February 10, 2015.
Domo,
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,
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,
Stitch Fix Stitch Fix is an online personal styling service in the United States and United Kingdom. It uses recommendation algorithms and data science to personalize clothing items based on size, budget and style. The company was founded in 2011 and had a ...
,
WeWork WeWork Inc. is a provider of coworking spaces, including physical and virtual shared spaces, headquartered in New York City. As of December 31, 2021, the company operated of space, including in the United States and Canada, in 756 locatio ...
,
Yelp Yelp Inc. is an American company that develops the Yelp.com website and the Yelp mobile app, which publish crowd-sourced reviews about businesses. It also operates Yelp Guest Manager, a table reservation service. It is headquartered in San Fra ...
,
Zendesk Zendesk is an American company headquartered in San Francisco, California. It provides software-as-a-service products related to customer support, sales, and other customer communications. The company was founded in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 2007. ...
,
Zillow Zillow Group, Inc., or simply Zillow, is an American tech real-estate marketplace company that was founded in 2006, and was created by Rich Barton and Lloyd Frink, former Microsoft executives and founders of Microsoft spin-off Expedia; Spencer R ...
and
Zipcar Zipcar is an American car-sharing company and a subsidiary of Avis Budget Group. Zipcar provides vehicle reservations to its members, billable by the minute, hour or day; members may have to pay a monthly or annual membership fee in addition ...
.


Partner structure

Benchmark is noted for creating the first equal ownership and compensation structure for its partners. The "maverick" firm differs from most VC firms, which are named for their founders and are structured hierarchically; Benchmark was described by ''Fortune'' as "a lean operation in which its six full-time partners share profits equally." There is no differentiation between its "junior partners" and "senior partners," as each partner benefits equally from company profits. In addition, there is no
CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...
-like position held.


Offices

The firm announced in May 2012 it would be expanding beyond its
Menlo Park, California Menlo Park is a city at the eastern edge of San Mateo County within the San Francisco Bay Area of California in the United States. It is bordered by San Francisco Bay on the north and east; East Palo Alto, Palo Alto, and Stanford to the south; ...
headquarters by opening a second headquarters with more than 10,000 square feet in San Francisco’s emerging tech corridor, the Mid-Market neighborhood.


In popular culture

Benchmark Capital was featured in the
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Original ''
WeCrashed ''WeCrashed'' is an American drama streaming television miniseries that premiered on Apple TV+ on March 18, 2022. The series stars Jared Leto and Anne Hathaway as Adam and Rebekah Neumann, the real-life married couple at the heart of WeWork, ...
'' starring
Jared Leto Jared Joseph Leto ( ; born December 26, 1971) is an American actor and musician. Known for his method acting in a variety of roles, he has received numerous accolades over a career spanning three decades, including an Academy Award and a Golde ...
and
Anne Hathaway Anne Jacqueline Hathaway (born November 12, 1982) is an American actress. The recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Anne Hathaway, various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Primetime Emmy Awar ...
. In the show, Anthony Edwards portrays Benchmark co-founder Bruce Dunlevie, who on April 1, 2012, became WeWork's first major investor when it led WeWork's $17 million Series-A seed funding. Benchmark was also featured in the
Showtime Showtime or Show Time may refer to: Film * ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film * ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur Television Networks and channels * Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global w ...
Original '' Super Pumped'' starring
Joseph Gordon-Levitt Joseph Leonard Gordon-Levitt (; born February 17, 1981) is an American actor. He has received various accolades, including nominations for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for his leading performances ...
. In the series,
Kyle Chandler Kyle Martin Chandler (born September 17, 1965) is an American actor. Making his screen acting debut in a 1988 television film, '' Quiet Victory: The Charlie Wedemeyer Story'', Chandler's first regular television role was in the ABC drama '' Ho ...
plays Benchmark General Partner
Bill Gurley John William Gurley (born May 10, 1966) is an American businessman. He is a general partner at Benchmark, a Silicon Valley venture capital firm in Menlo Park, California. He is listed consistently on the Forbes Midas List and is considered o ...
, portraying his involvement in leading Ubers' $11 million round of fundraising in February of 2011.


Investments

Benchmark has invested in more than 250 startups since its inception in 1995, including:


See also

*
Michael Eisenberg Michael Eisenberg () (born May 18, 1971) is an American-born Israelis, Israeli businessman, venture capitalist and author. Biography Michael Eisenberg was born in Manhattan, New York City, New York, the eldest of seven children. His father was a ...


References


External links


Official website
{{Private equity and venture capital Venture capital firms of the United States Companies based in Menlo Park, California Financial services companies established in 1995