Uncork Capital

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.

Uncork Capital
Company typePrivate
IndustryVenture Capital
Founded2004
HeadquartersSan Francisco, CA
Key people
Jeff Clavier, Founder and Managing Partner
Andy McLoughlin, Managing Partner
ProductsInvestments
Websitewww.uncorkcapital.com

History

The 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

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, August Home, Bitly, Bleacher Report, Blekko, Chariot, Curse LLC, Gnip, Handshake, Kongregate, Mint.com,[17] and Next Big Sound.

References
  1. Rampton, John (22 February 2017). "Meet the Angels: Silicon Valley's Most Well-Known Investors of 2016". Business Insider. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  2. Schonfeld, Erick (26 January 2012). "Jeff Clavier's SoftTech VC Raises $55 Million For Fund III". TechCrunch.
  3. 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.
  4. Cai, Kenrick. "Seed VC Firm Uncork Hires Accel Partner Amy Saper As Fifth Partner". Forbes. Retrieved 2024-01-30.
  5. 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.
  6. "SoftTech VC rebrands as Uncork Capital". Pitchbook. 8 November 2017. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  7. "Uncork Capital - About". Uncork Capital. Retrieved 2022-01-13.
  8. Garland, Russ (27 June 2014). "SoftTech VC Boosts Its Reserves With $85 Million Fourth Fund". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 11 June 2018.
  9. Loizos, Connie (8 June 2016). "SoftTech VC goes big, raising $150 million across two new funds". TechCrunch. Retrieved 11 June 2018.
  10. Taylor, Colleen (26 January 2012). "How Jeff Clavier will spend SoftTech's biggest VC fund yet". GigaOM.
  11. Geron, Tomio (26 January 2012). "SoftTech VC Closes Oversubscribed $55 Million Third Fund". Forbes.
  12. Volpicelli, Anna (1 August 2014). "Meet The Bay Area's Top Female Venture Capitalists". 7x7. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  13. "The Daily Startup: SoftTech VC Aims at $75M for Fund IV". Wall Street Journal. 12 July 2013.
  14. Clavier, Jeff (2019-08-19). "Uncork raises $200M to support the next generation of seed-stage startups". Uncork Capital. Retrieved 2022-01-13.
  15. 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.
  16. "Survata Announces $6 Million in Series A Funding | Survata Blog". www.survata.com. Retrieved 2015-07-20.
  17. "The Midas List: Top Tech Investors, Jeff Clavier". Forbes. Forbes. 2023. Retrieved 2024-01-04.


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