Америкалық венчурлық капитал фирмасы Sequoia Capital туралы

American venture capital firm

Sequoia Capital is an American venture capital firm headquartered in Menlo Park, California which specializes in seed stage, early stage, and growth stage investments in private companies across technology sectors. as of 2022, the firm had approximately US$85 billion in assets under management. Sequoia is an umbrella brand for three different venture entities: one focused on the United States and Europe, another on India and Southeast Asia, and a third on China. Notable successful investments made by the firm include Apple, ByteDance, and Cisco.

Sequoia was founded by Don Valentine in 1972 in Menlo Park, California, at a time when the state's venture capital industry was just beginning to develop. Sequoia formed its first venture capital fund in 1974, and was an early investor in Atari the next year. In 1978, Sequoia became one of the first investors in Apple. Partners Doug Leone and Michael Moritz assumed leadership of the firm in 1996. In 1999, Sequoia established a dedicated investment fund for Israeli startups. later followed by Sequoia Capital India. In 2012, Moritz took a step back from the day to day operations of the firm. Leone became Global Managing Partner. Jim Goetz led Sequoia's US business from 2012 until 2017, when he was succeeded by Roelof Botha. In 2016, Sequoia hired Jess Lee, making her the first female investing partner in the United States in the firm's history. In 2019, it was the most active VC fund company in India. In March 2020, Sequoia announced it would hire Luciana Lixandru as its first partner based in Europe. In October 2021, Sequoia announced it would implement a new fund structure for its U. S. and European business that would allow it to remain involved with companies after their public market debuts. In March 2022, The Information reported that Sequoia Capital China was raising an $8 billion fund to invest in Chinese tech companies. Following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank in March 2023, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation had backstopped Sequoia's $1billion in deposits in the bank. In June 2023, Sequoia announced plans to break up into three entities citing complications running a decentralized global investment business in the middle of geopolitical tensions. Following the separation, expected to complete by March 2024, the Chinese business led by Neil Shen would be called HongShan ("sequoia" in Mandarin) and the Indian and Southeast Asia arm would be named Peak XV Partners. The U. S. and Europe unit would retain the Sequoia name. In October 2023, the United States House Select Committee on Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party announced a probe into Sequoia Capital's investments in China.

In 2009, Sequoia launched its scout program, which functions as an individual investor network that provides founders and other individuals with capital to invest in promising early stage startups. Sequoia Scouts have invested in over 1,000 companies. Sequoia was the first venture capital firm to offer a scout program, and the model has since been emulated by others in the industry. In 2021, Sequoia partnered on the BLCK VC Scout Network to provide training and education to current and aspiring Black scouts.