Founders Fund

Founders Fund is a San Francisco-based venture capital firm established in 2005, specializing in investments across various stages, from seed to growth. The firm focuses on transformative technologies and seeks to address significant global challenges through its investments in sectors such as biotechnology, artificial intelligence, aerospace, cybersecurity, and consumer internet. With over $2 billion in capital under management, Founders Fund has a history of backing notable companies, including SpaceX, Palantir, and Facebook, emphasizing a founder-friendly investment strategy that provides substantial support with minimal interference. The firm typically invests between $500,000 and $300 million, targeting innovative companies worldwide.

Delian Asparouhov

Partner

Erin Gleason

Vice President of Communications

Lauren Gross

Partner and COO

Ken Howery

Co- Founder and Partner

John Luttig

Principal

Amin Mirzadegan

Principal

Scott Nolan

Partner

Neil Ruthven

CFO

Michael Solana

vice_president

Trae Stephens

Partner

Napoleon Ta

Partner

Peter Thiel

Partner

Matias Van Thienen

Partner

Past deals in Florida

Traba

Series A in 2022
Traba is a marketplace that connects light industrial workers with businesses to fill open shifts. Their focus is on opportunities in warehousing, distribution, and event staffing.

Hydra Host

Seed Round in 2022
Hydra Host is a tool that provides cross-cloud capabilities to deploy and host apps across public cloud and private cloud providers. In addition to cross-cloud capabilities, Hydra offers high-level advisory, as well as expert implementation work with bespoke service engagements catered to client priorities. Whether security, resilience, or scale-focused.

OpenStore

Series B in 2021
OpenStore connects merchants and customers into a single unified shopping experience through access to data, information, and capital. The company aims to offer instant liquidity for eCommerce entrepreneurs.

Elemy

Series B in 2021
Sprout Therapy is a health and wellness company that specializes in the fields of information technology, medical, and treatments. Sprout is a tech-enabled platform for autism care that matches children with therapists who create customized treatment plans that can be administered both in-home and online. It was founded in 2019 and headquartered in San Francisco, California.

Traba

Seed Round in 2021
Traba is a marketplace that connects light industrial workers with businesses to fill open shifts. Their focus is on opportunities in warehousing, distribution, and event staffing.

OpenStore

Series A in 2021
OpenStore connects merchants and customers into a single unified shopping experience through access to data, information, and capital. The company aims to offer instant liquidity for eCommerce entrepreneurs.

Elemy

Series A in 2021
Sprout Therapy is a health and wellness company that specializes in the fields of information technology, medical, and treatments. Sprout is a tech-enabled platform for autism care that matches children with therapists who create customized treatment plans that can be administered both in-home and online. It was founded in 2019 and headquartered in San Francisco, California.

Tend

Seed Round in 2019
Tend Exchange LLC, founded in 2017 and based in El Segundo, California, specializes in providing software solutions for event staffing through a digital marketplace. This platform connects event hosts with a curated network of professionals known as Tenders, who offer various hospitality staffing services, including bartending. Users can select staff based on their profiles, experience, and ratings, enabling them to make informed choices for future events. Tend aims to streamline the staffing process for both businesses and individuals in the hospitality industry.

X-Vax Technology

Series A in 2019
X-Vax Technology is a biotechnology company focused on the preclinical and clinical development of vaccines against pathogens that cause mucosal infections such as herpes, influenza, tuberculosis and HIV, affecting hundreds of millions of people around the globe. They believe that inducing antibodies that mediate the killing of infected cells will provoke an entirely new and effective immune response – so that they can finally beat these pathogens. The company was founded in 2015 and based in Jupiter, Florida.

Home61

Venture Round in 2017
HOME61 Miami Inc. operates as an online real estate company that helps users to find real estate properties in Miami and other surrounding areas. It enables users to search residential (house, apartment, condos, and penthouse) and other properties for rent and sale. It allows individuals, landlords, management companies, or brokers to list their real estate properties for rent and sale. The company was incorporated in 2014 and is based in Miami, Florida.

Moon Express

Series B in 2017
Moon Express Inc. is a commercial space company that designs and builds robotic spacecraft for lunar exploration and resource development. Founded in 2010, the company aims to unlock the Moon's vast resources for humanity while establishing new commercial opportunities beyond Earth's orbit. Its flagship product, the MX-1 lunar lander, is capable of delivering scientific and commercial payloads to the Moon. Moon Express has formed strategic partnerships with NASA, serving as both a collaborator and a contractor for lunar cargo delivery. The company was recognized as a leader in the Google Lunar XPRIZE competition and was selected for NASA's Innovative Lunar Demonstrations Data program and the Lunar CATALYST program, which focuses on returning humans to the Moon. Headquartered at the NASA Ames Research Park in California, Moon Express also operates facilities in Huntsville, Alabama, and Cape Canaveral, Florida. Through its innovative spacecraft, Moon Express seeks to significantly reduce the costs associated with robotic space activities, expanding the economic potential of lunar and asteroid resources.

Willing

Series A in 2016
Willing is an online legal service that simplifies the process of end-of-life planning, making it accessible and affordable for all. The platform provides users with tools to create wills and living wills quickly, allowing them to secure their estate plans in just minutes. Additionally, Willing assists users in comparing costs for funeral homes and cemeteries, facilitating informed decisions regarding their end-of-life arrangements. By focusing on user-friendly solutions, Willing helps individuals protect their families and assets while saving time and money.

Moon Express

Venture Round in 2010
Moon Express Inc. is a commercial space company that designs and builds robotic spacecraft for lunar exploration and resource development. Founded in 2010, the company aims to unlock the Moon's vast resources for humanity while establishing new commercial opportunities beyond Earth's orbit. Its flagship product, the MX-1 lunar lander, is capable of delivering scientific and commercial payloads to the Moon. Moon Express has formed strategic partnerships with NASA, serving as both a collaborator and a contractor for lunar cargo delivery. The company was recognized as a leader in the Google Lunar XPRIZE competition and was selected for NASA's Innovative Lunar Demonstrations Data program and the Lunar CATALYST program, which focuses on returning humans to the Moon. Headquartered at the NASA Ames Research Park in California, Moon Express also operates facilities in Huntsville, Alabama, and Cape Canaveral, Florida. Through its innovative spacecraft, Moon Express seeks to significantly reduce the costs associated with robotic space activities, expanding the economic potential of lunar and asteroid resources.