Venture capital is a form of private equity where investors finance startups and small businesses. The funding usually comes from wealthy investors, investment banks, and other financial institutions; however, the capital can also come in a non-monetary form, like technical or managerial expertise.
Venture capital financing is very risky; for that reason, VC firms tend to invest in companies that have grown quickly or have very high growth potential. The return on investment for a few of these companies is a large enough payoff to counterbalance the investments that don’t work out. One of the main downsides for the company is that the investors get substantial equity in it and thus, a say in company decisions.
To help guide you as you apply and interview for VC, here is a list of the top 10 venture capital firms, put together from articles by Forbes, Startup Savant, and FundComb.
Top Venture Capital Firms
1. Sequoia Capital
Sequoia is one of the most well-known VC firms in the world. It specializes in tech and healthcare startups and its portfolio includes giants like Apple, 23andMe, Whatsapp, Google, Qualtrics, and Instagram. Its leaders include founders and executives from Airbnb, Zoom, Maven, Doordash, and others.
- Founded: 1972
- Headquarters: Menlo Park, CA
- Assets Under Management: $80.7 Billion (as of September, 2021)
2. Andreessen Horowitz
Founded relatively recently by Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, this VC firm is also located in Silicon Valley. It invests in both early-stage and established companies and focuses on those in the areas of mobile, cryptocurrency, game, social, e-commerce, education, and enterprise IT. In its short history, it has had a large number of successful exits including those for Airbnb, Box, Facebook (now Meta), Groupon, Lyft, Pinterest, Coinbase, Slack, and Instagram.
- Founded: 2009
- Headquarters: Menlo Park, CA
- Assets Under Management: $16.5 Billion (as of November, 2020)
3. Kleiner Perkins
Another firm in Menlo Park, Kleiner Perkins focuses on investments in healthcare, consumer product, and hard tech startups. Its portfolio includes notable companies like Amazon, Spotify, Square, Snap, Twitter, and DocuSign. It has been described as one of the most famous VC firms in Silicon Valley.
- Founded: 1972
- Headquarters: Menlo Park, CA
- Assets Under Management: $9.2 Billion (as of January, 2022)
4. Insight Partners
Insight Partners is a venture capital and private equity firm that focuses on companies in the software, internet, and technology industries. Among the many notable companies in its portfolio are monday.com, Qualtrics, Pluralsight, Shopify, HelloFresh, Wix, Calm, Shutterstock, and WalkMe. Since its inception, Insight has placed all of its bets on the belief that software would change the world of business and it makes its investments based on three core pillars: scale, focus, and experience.
- Founded: 1995
- Headquarters: New York City, NY
- Assets Under Management: $90 Billion (as of January, 2022)
The Best 50+ Free Resources to Break Into Venture Capital
We've compiled the most comprehensive list of all the best resources to help you land a job in the competitive world in VC.
5. Tiger Global Management
Tiger Global is an investment firm that focuses on companies in the industries of internet, software, consumer, and financial technologies. Their goal is to generate high returns over a long-time period in order to build a unique and global investment portfolio. They aspire to invest in companies that have grown from powerful secular trends and that are led by experienced management. Some of its most profitable investments have been Microsoft, Doordash, Carvana, Zoom, Amazon, Shopify, DocuSign, Atlassian, Uber, and Coinbase.
- Founded: 1995
- Headquarters: New York City, NY
- Assets Under Management: $79 Billion (as of January, 2022)
6. New Enterprise Associates
NEA is a global venture capital firm with investments across all stages, focused on the technology and healthcare industries. The firm wants to work with visionary entrepreneurs in order to build companies that are transformational and make the world a better place. Its portfolio includes companies like Robinhood, Coursera, Masterclass, Plaid, and Databricks.
- Founded: 1977
- Headquarters: Washington, DC and Menlo Park, CA
- Assets Under Management: ~$20 Billion (as of January, 2022)
7. Khosla Ventures
This VC firm was founded somewhat recently by Vinod Khosla, an Indian-American businessman. It focuses on companies in the early stages of the internet, mobile, silicon technology, biotechnology, information technology, clean technology, computing, and healthcare industries. It is also one of the largest investors in the space industry. Some of its notable investments include Academia.edu, AliveCor, DoorDash, Everlane, Impossible Foods, Instacart, Scribd, and Tile.
- Founded: 2004
- Headquarters: Menlo Park, CA
- Assets Under Management: $15 Billion (as of October, 2021)
8. Norwest Venture Partners
Norwest aspires to help companies deliver a sustainable impact on the world and take pride in the fact that many of their investments are driving change. Those investments are motivated by returns first, as well as an understanding of the relationship between growth, financial success, and a commitment to the planet. The firm targets late-stage companies in a variety of industries, including IT, healthcare, financial services, SaaS, and cloud computing. It has invested in many successful companies including Calm, Imperfect Foods, Kendra Scott, Spotify, Minted, Plaid, and Udemy.
- Founded: 1961
- Headquarters: Palo Alto, CA
- Assets Under Management: $12.5 Billion (as of December, 2021)
9. GGV Capital
GGV Capital is a global VC firm with investments in many different countries. The industries it focuses on include social/internet, smart tech, and enterprise tech and they invest in companies at different stages, from seed to growth. Some of its noteworthy investments are Airbnb, Affirm, Hello, Keep, Peloton, Square, Poshmark, and Slack. The firm believes in supporting companies with technology that can create growth opportunities in emerging markets.
- Founded: 2000
- Headquarters: Menlo Park, CA, and Singapore
- Assets Under Management: $9.2 Billion
10. DST Global
DST Global is a venture capital and private equity firm that focuses its investments on late-stage companies in the internet industry. Though it was founded relatively recently, it is one of the largest VC firms in the world. It has had many successful investments including in companies like Facebook, Twitter, Whatsapp, Acorns, Snap, Klarna, Slack, Brex, Nubank, Groupon, Robinhood, Airbnb, and Spotify. Recently, it has come under scrutiny because of its connections to Russia in light of the recent invasion of Ukraine.
- Founded: 2009
- Headquarters: London, Silicon Valley, Hong Kong, New York, and Beijing
- Assets Under Management: $50 Billion
Venture Capital Coaches
Here are some of our top coaches for venture capital career consulting. They can provide one-on-one help with the application, interviews, or anything else you might need.
We hope you found this list helpful in your journey to venture capital. If you want more information on VC, read these articles:
- What is Venture Capital and How Does it Work?
- The 10 Best Venture Capital Fellowships
- How to Get Into Venture Capital: Lessons Learned Interviewing 100+ Investors
- The Top 10 Venture Capital Books
