Sierra Ventures
Sierra Ventures is an American venture capital firm based in San Mateo, California. It is focused on early stage emerging technology companies.
Type | Private |
---|---|
Industry | Venture Capital |
Founded | 1982 |
Headquarters | , |
Key people | Mark Fernandes, Managing Director Tim Guleri, Managing Director Ben Yu, Managing Director Peter Wendell, Founder |
Website | www |
History
The firm was founded by Peter Wendell in 1982 in Menlo Park, California.[1][2] Early investments included Healtheon, Intuit, Micromuse, and StrataCom.[1]
The firm is run by managing directors Mark Fernandes, Tim Guleri, and Ben Yu and is based in San Mateo, California.[3]
Investments
As of 2019, Sierra Ventures had invested over $1.9 billion.[4] The firm's initial investment averages between $500,000 and $7 million and on average it invests up to $15 million over the life of a company.[3][5]
Sierra Ventures’ CXO Advisory Board, a group of Global 1000 Chief Information, Technology, Data, Security, and other technology focused Officers and IT executives, advises on the firm's strategic investment decisions.[6] The board also counsels portfolio companies on how to scale and adapt as necessary.[7][8]
Sierra Ventures is currently investing out of its eleventh fund, which closed in 2016 with $170 million.[3][9] In March 2019 the firm began raising its twelfth fund.[10]
Some notable past investments include:
- Adometry – online advertising attribution company, acquired by Google in 2014.[11]
- AuthenTec – mobile security company, acquired in 2012 by Apple for $365 million.[12]
- Bina Technologies – big data science platform for researchers and clinicians, acquired in 2014 by Roche.[13]
- Frontbridge – electronic messaging and security services provider, acquired in 2005 by Microsoft.[14]
- Greenplum – database analytics and software developer, acquired in 2010 by Dell EMC.[15]
- Healtheon – online healthcare resource, merged with WebMD in 1999.[1][16]
- Intuit – business and financial software company, went public in 1993; now valued at over $55 billion.[17]
- Intuitive Surgical – surgical robotic developer, went public in 2000;[18] as of July 2019, the company has a market capitalization of over $60 billion.[19]
- InvenSense – MotionTracking sensor chip provider, acquired by TDK in 2016 for $1.3 billion.[20]
- MakeMyTrip – India-based online travel company, went public in 2010.[21]
- Micromuse – provider of network management software, acquired by IBM in 2005 for $865 million.[22]
- Nexgate – cloud-based social web security, acquired in 2014 by Proofpoint for $35 million.[3]
- OnLink – provider of eCommerce sales and marketing applications, acquired by Siebel Systems in 2000 for approximately $607.5 million.[23]
- Ooyala – developer of video content workflow management systems, acquired in 2012 by Telstra for $43 million.[24]
- Quinta – developer of next-generation data-storage technology, acquired by Seagate Technology in 1997 for $325 million.[25]
- Redlock – cloud security software developer, acquired in 2018 by Palo Alto Networks for $173 million.[26]
- Sourcefire – network security hardware and software developer, acquired in 2013 by Cisco.[27]
- StrataCom – supplier of Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) and Frame Relay high-speed wide area network (WAN) switching equipment, acquired in 1996 by Cisco for approximately $4 billion.[28]
- Tempo – AI-enhanced calendar application, acquired in 2015 by Salesforce.[29]
- Theravance Biopharma – biopharmaceutical company, went public in 2014.
- Treasure Data – cloud-based data collection, storage and analysis services, acquired in 2018 by ARM for $600 million.[30]
- Teradata – provider of database and analytics-related software and services, acquired by NCR Corporation in 1991 for $250 million; subsequently spun out by NCR in 2007 and now trades on the NYSE (symbol TDC) with a $3B market cap.[31][32]
- Terayon – developer of cable modem systems for broadband access, went public in 1998.[33]
- Ximalaya – Chinese audio platform.[3]
References
- Young, Susan (1 October 2001). "New Economy Notables: Peter C. Wendell". HBS Alumni. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
- Clark, Meaghan (3 November 2013). "21 Stanford professors who could be your biggest startup investor". The Stanford Daily. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
- Loizos, Connie (7 January 2016). "Sierra Ventures Closes 11th Fund With $170 Million". TechCrunch. Retrieved 31 July 2019.
- Yu, Ben (31 March 2019). "The convergence of 5G and AI: A venture capitalist's view". VentureBeat. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
- "Company Overview of Sierra Ventures". Bloomberg. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
- High, Peter (22 July 2019). "As Sierra Ventures Announces 12th Fund, MD Mark Fernandes Offers A Look Inside The Firm". Forbes. Retrieved 27 July 2019.
- Gage, Deborah (23 August 2013). "Sierra Ventures' New Partner Taps Tough Startup Experience". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
- Schubarth, Cromwell (15 August 2013). "Q&A: Sierra VC Tim Guleri on his firm's CIO advantage". Silicon Valley Business Journal. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
- "The Daily Startup: Guardant Health Raises Nearly $100 Million Series D". The Wall Street Journal. 7 January 2016. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
- Temkin, Marina (21 March 2019). "Sierra Ventures seeks $175 mln for 12th flagship fund". Venture Capital Journal. Retrieved 15 July 2017.
- Shields, Mike (6 May 2014). "Google to Acquire Online Attribution Firm Adometry". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 30 July 2019.
- Rusli, Evyln M. (27 July 2012). "Apple to Acquire AuthenTec for $365 Million". The New York Times. Retrieved 27 July 2019.
- McCormick, Jason (23 December 2014). "Big Data's Bina acquired by Big Pharma's Roche". Silicon Valley Business Journal. Retrieved 31 July 2019.
- Fried, Ina (31 August 2005). "Microsoft completes FrontBridge acquisition". CNET. Retrieved 27 July 2019.
- Malik, Om (6 July 2010). "Big Data = Big Money: EMC Buys Greenplum". Gigaom. Retrieved 31 July 2019.
- Slud, Martha (20 May 1999). "Healtheon, WebMD to merge". CNN Money. Retrieved 21 July 2019.
- "Intuit Inc. History". Funding Universe. Retrieved 21 July 2019.
- Doe. "Intuitive Surgical Inc (ISRG) IPO". Nasdaq. Retrieved 30 July 2019.
- "Intuitive Surgical Inc". Bloomberg. Retrieved 30 July 2019.
- Fenner, Robert (21 December 2016). "TDK Agrees to Buy InvenSense for About $1.3 Billion in Cash". Bloomberg News. Retrieved 27 July 2019.
- Cowan, Lynn (12 August 2010). "MakeMyTrip, Up 89%, Has Best IPO Since 2007". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 31 July 2019.
- "IBM to Acquire Micromuse Inc". IBM. 21 December 2005. Retrieved 21 July 2019.
- "Siebel Systems to Buy OnLink Technologies". The Wall Street Journal. 8 August 2000. Retrieved 30 July 2019.
- Spangler, Todd (11 December 2013). "Internet-Video Startup Ooyala Reels In $43 Mil from Australia's Telstra". Variety. Retrieved 27 July 2019.
- "Seagate Technology to Acquire Rest of Quinta Seagate". The New York Times. 3 July 1997. Retrieved 31 July 2019.
- Krause, Reinhardt (3 October 2018). "Palo Alto Networks Acquires Redlock To Boost Cloud Security". Investor's Business Daily. Retrieved 21 July 2019.
- de la Merced, Michael J. (23 July 2013). "Cisco to Buy Sourcefire, a Cybersecurity Company, for $2.7 Billion". The New York Times. Retrieved 30 July 2019.
- De La Merced, Michael J. (23 July 2013). "Cisco to Buy Sourcefire, a Cybersecurity Company, for $2.7 Billion". The New York Times. Retrieved 21 July 2019.
- Kim, Eugene (29 May 2015). "Salesforce jumps on the artificial intelligence bandwagon with a surprise acquisition". Business Insider. Retrieved 31 July 2019.
- Turner, Giles; Lanxon, Nate (29 July 2019). "SoftBank-Owned ARM Is Said to Agree to Buy Treasure Data". Bloomberg News. Retrieved 21 July 2019.
- "NCR Completes Teradata Spin Off" (Press release). NCR. October 1, 2007. Archived from the original on October 18, 2007.
- "Teradata Corp". MarketWatch. Retrieved 6 September 2019.
- "Terayon Communication Systems (TERN) IPO". Nasdaq. Retrieved 27 July 2019.