Uncork Capital (formerly known as SoftTech VC) is a venture capital firm based in San Francisco, California, founded by Jeff Clavier. Considered one of the most active established seed funds in Silicon Valley,[1] it has invested in companies such as Postmates, Eventbrite, Fitbit, and SendGrid.
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Venture Capital |
| Founded | 2004 |
| Headquarters | San Francisco, CA |
Key people | Jeff Clavier, Founder and Managing Partner Andy McLoughlin, Managing Partner |
| Products | Investments |
| Website | www.uncorkcapital.com |
History
editThe firm was founded in 2004 by angel investor Jeff Clavier when he transitioned his portfolio into a formal venture firm.[2] Partners include Andy McLoughlin (formerly of Huddle), Susan Liu (formerly of Scale Venture Partners), Tripp Jones (formerly of August Capital),[3] and Amy Saper (formerly of Accel).[4] As of 2024, the firm had invested in over 260 early stage start-ups.[5]
In 2017, the firm changed its name from SoftTech VC to Uncork Capital.[6]
Investments
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The firm primarily invests in SaaS (software as a service), marketplaces, consumer services and "frontier technology" ventures.[7] With a focus on seed-stage funding, the firm generally aims to secure between 8-12+% ownership of the companies it invests in.[8][9]
The firm's first fund raised less than $1 million,[10] while the second fund raised $15 million in 2007.
In 2012, Fund III oversubscribed at $55 million,[11] and, in 2014, they closed their fourth fund at $85 million, bringing their capital under management to $155 million.[12][13]
In 2016, the firm raised $100 million for SoftTechVC V and $50 million for a breakout fund.[9] In 2019, the firm raised $100M for Uncork VI and $100M for their second breakout find, Plus II.[14]
In 2023, the firm raised $200M for Uncork VII and $200M for their third breakout fund, Plus III.[15]
Notable investments have included: Eventbrite, Fitbit, Postmates, SendGrid, Survata, Gnip, BrightRoll, Vidyard, LiveRamp,[16][9] about.me,[citation needed] August Home,[citation needed] Bitly,[citation needed] Bleacher Report,[citation needed] Blekko,[citation needed] Chariot,[citation needed] Curse LLC,[citation needed] Gnip,[citation needed] Handshake,[citation needed] Kongregate,[citation needed] Mint.com,[17] and Next Big Sound.[citation needed]
References
edit- ^ Rampton, John (22 February 2017). "Meet the Angels: Silicon Valley's Most Well-Known Investors of 2016". Business Insider. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
- ^ Schonfeld, Erick (26 January 2012). "Jeff Clavier's SoftTech VC Raises $55 Million For Fund III". TechCrunch.
- ^ Konrad, Alex. "Seed-Stage VC Firm Uncork Capital Taps Under 30 Alum Susan Liu And Veteran Investor Tripp Jones As Partners". Forbes. Retrieved 2022-01-13.
- ^ Cai, Kenrick. "Seed VC Firm Uncork Hires Accel Partner Amy Saper As Fifth Partner". Forbes. Retrieved 2024-01-30.
- ^ Volpicelli, Anna (1 August 2014). "The 20 Hottest Bay Area Fintech Investors and 20 Bay Area Fintech Startups To Keep Your Eye On". Huffington Post. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
- ^ "SoftTech VC rebrands as Uncork Capital". Pitchbook. 8 November 2017. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
- ^ "Uncork Capital - About". Uncork Capital. Retrieved 2022-01-13.
- ^ Garland, Russ (27 June 2014). "SoftTech VC Boosts Its Reserves With $85 Million Fourth Fund". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 11 June 2018.
- ^ a b c Loizos, Connie (8 June 2016). "SoftTech VC goes big, raising $150 million across two new funds". TechCrunch. Retrieved 11 June 2018.
- ^ Taylor, Colleen (26 January 2012). "How Jeff Clavier will spend SoftTech's biggest VC fund yet". GigaOM.
- ^ Geron, Tomio (26 January 2012). "SoftTech VC Closes Oversubscribed $55 Million Third Fund". Forbes.
- ^ Volpicelli, Anna (1 August 2014). "Meet The Bay Area's Top Female Venture Capitalists". 7x7. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
- ^ "The Daily Startup: SoftTech VC Aims at $75M for Fund IV". Wall Street Journal. 12 July 2013.
- ^ Clavier, Jeff (2019-08-19). "Uncork raises $200M to support the next generation of seed-stage startups". Uncork Capital. Retrieved 2022-01-13.
- ^ McLoughlin, Andy (2023-06-27). "Uncork Raises $400M to Invest in and Support Seed-Stage Startups From Inception Through Growth". Uncork Capital. Retrieved 2024-01-30.
- ^ "Survata Announces $6 Million in Series A Funding | Survata Blog". www.survata.com. Retrieved 2015-07-20.
- ^ "The Midas List: Top Tech Investors, Jeff Clavier". Forbes. Forbes. 2023. Retrieved 2024-01-04.
External links
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