Last year, venture capitalists pumped an astounding $48.3 billion into US companies, according to the National Venture Capital Association and PricewaterhouseCoopers — a 15-year high. Where does all of that money go? Let’s look at some of the world’s most famous venture capital success stories.
1. Uber
The famous cab services Uber was able to raise a staggering $1.5 billion in venture capital funding. The company raised $1.2 billion in funding back in 2014 from a group of mutual fund managers and venture investors, including Fidelity Investments, Wellington Management, and BlackRock Inc. Uber was also able to raise an impressive $258 million from Google Ventures. The company isn’t just good at helping users hail cabs, it is also pretty good at raising money.
2. Snapchat
This popular photo-sharing app in which photos disappear just seconds after they’re opened was created by former Stanford students Evan Spiegel, Bobby Murphy, and Reggie Brown. The app isn’t just tremendously popular with the youth of America — it’s also popular with venture capitalists. It raised close to half a million in an initial seed round, and later raised 60 million in a funding round led by venture-capital firm Institutional Venture Partners. All in all, it has raised a staggering $486 million in investments. In February of 2015 Snapchat announced another round of funding, in which it raised a staggering $1.4 billion.
3. Instagram
This online mobile photo-sharing and video-sharing site was developed in San Francisco by Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger. In a little under a year and a half, it garnered over 100 million users, and quickly attracted the eye of many venture capitalists. Instagram raised $7 million in Series A funding from several different investors, including Benchmark Capital, Jack Dorsey, Capital fund, and Adam D’Angelo, which put the company at a value of $25 million. In a subsequent round of funding, they raised $500 million from venture capitalists, putting the company value around $25 million. Social media giant Facebook ended up purchasing the company for an impressive $1 billion dollars.
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