PRESS RELEASE:
But They Don’t Always Get it Right: Established VC Kicks off 2015 by Updating List of Most Painful Misses
MENLO PARK, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–January 22, 2015–
Bessemer Venture Partners (BVP) – a global venture capital firm backing great entrepreneurs leading transformative companies – enjoyed a successful 2014 with 21 exits, including the IPOs of 2U, Cerulean Pharma, and Proteon Therapeutics. Among the M&A exits was the “unicorn exit” of Twitch, which Amazon bought for more than $1 billion, Google’s acquisitions of seed investment DropCam, and satellite imaging startup Skybox.
The firm made 35 new investments in areas of expertise that included cloud computing, cybersecurity, healthcare IT, consumer Internet and vertical marketplaces – growing the BVP Funded community to more than 150 companies. With more than 50 follow-on investments, many in which BVP was an early investor, the firm continued to support its existing portfolio. The follow-on investments included category leaders like Pinterest (BVP is the largest shareholder and first invested in 2011), Blue Apron (BVP first funded with a seed investment), Twilio (BVP first invested in 2009), Snapdeal and Mindbody (2011 marked the first investments in both companies).
In 2014, BVP’s investment team was recognized for their outstanding performance and industry expertise. Forbes named Jeremy Levine, Byron Deeter and Chris Gabrieli to its prestigious Midas List of Top Tech Investors (2014). AlwaysOn named Adam Fisher, Byron Deeter and Bob Goodman among The Top 100 Venture Partners, and recognized David Cowan and Byron Deeter as Power Players in the Cloud. Brian Feinstein was named to Forbes “30 Under 30″ while investors Kristina Shen and Talia Goldberg were named to Business Insider’s Silicon Valley and New York lists of “30 and Under: Rising Stars Who Find Hot Startup Deals.” The firm is now 90 strong, with 14 partners in five offices around the world.
The firm also celebrated milestones within its portfolio. Among them, Pinterest saw the largest growth in members across social media platforms, Blue Apron surpassed one million meals delivered per month, and apps built on Twilio touched 95 percent of American adults. Also in 2014, more than 1.5 million Americans enrolled in health coverage through a GetInsured-built platform during the nation’s first open enrollment under the Affordable Care Act.
Among the BVP-funded founders honored, Inc. Magazine named Box CEO Aaron Levie “Entrepreneur of the Year,“ while Canada’s The Globe and Mail appointed Ottawa-based Shopify CEO Tobi Lutke “CEO of the Year.” Ernst and Young recognized Josh Coates, CEO of Instructure, as an Entrepreneur Of The Year™ National Award winner in Technology, and Michael Litt, CEO of VidYard, as an Entrepreneur of the Year Regional Award winner (Ontario). Business Insider’s list of the “Most Powerful People in Enterprise Tech” included Twilio’s Jeff Lawson, Docusign’s Keith Kratch, and Box’s Aaron Levie. Fortune Magazine included Pinterest’s Ben Silberman and Snapdeal’s Kunal Bahl in their “40 Under 40.” “The 35 Under 35: Coolest Entrepreneurs of 2014″ list from Inc. Magazine included Blue Apron founders Matt Salzberg and Ilia Papas, Sendgrid founders Isaac Saldana and Jose Lopez, Shopify founders Tobias Lütke and Daniel Weinand and Skybox founder Ching-Yu Hu.
Betterment, Docusign, Pinterest and Twilio were named to CNBC’s Disruptor 50 list and BVP funded companies Twilio, MainStretHub and SendGrid were named to the “2014 Inc. 500.”
While Bessemer was happy to end 2014 on a high note, the team never claims to always get it right. They kicked off the new year by updating the BVP Anti-Portfolio at www.bvp.com, a list of the firm’s biggest misses.
About Bessemer Venture Partners
Bessemer Venture Partners (BVP) invests in early-stage and hyper-growth startups, partnering closely with entrepreneurs to build durable businesses. BVP is a global firm with offices in Menlo Park, Cambridge, New York, Bangalore, and Herzliya. With $4 billion under management, BVP invests anywhere from $100,000 to $75 million in innovative companies like Pinterest, Twilio, Box, LinkedIn, Shopify, Yelp, Skype and CornerstoneOnDemand. Over 100 BVP companies have gone public-in the last three years alone, BVP has had 36 exits (IPO and M&A) and made new investments in more than 70 companies. Learn more at www.bvp.com and follow us on Twitter @BessemerVP.
For Bessemer Venture Partners
Dan Sorensen, 801-461-9756
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