Established in 1972, Kleiner Perkins operates as a venture capital company from its Menlo Park, California headquarters. They have a keen interest in funding businesses at various stages, from seed to late-stage. Their investment interests span sectors such as business and consumer products and services, financial services, healthcare, IT, SaaS, manufacturing, life sciences, TMT, B2B payments, cybersecurity, and infrastructure. Geographically, they focus on the U.S., Canada, the Middle East, the U.K., North America, and Mainland China.
Kleiner Perkins has invested in many Prime Unicorn Index components. In this post, we will highlight some of these investments.
Gusto, Inc. (FKA: ZenPayroll, Inc.) provides cloud-based payroll, HR, compliance, and benefits services. The platform enables time tracking, integration, and access to employees for processing payroll from Web-enabled devices, such as smartphones and tablets. The company also provides access to employees and contractors to browse their previous pay stubs, review their payroll forms, and verify their personal details. Gusto has raised $782.47 million over 12 rounds, most recently raising a $114.27 million Series E round in July 2021 at $30.40 per share, valuing the company at $9.3 billion. Gusto was marked down to a PPPS of $19.16 following an EPEN in February 2023, dropping its valuation to $6 billion. Previous investors include Kleiner Perkins, Google Ventures, Y Combinator, General Catalyst, and others.
Houzz, Inc. is the leading online home remodeling and design platform, providing people with everything they need to improve their homes. It is also a Kleiner Perkins portfolio company and a component of the Prime Unicorn Index. Houzz has raised $598.24 million over five rounds, most recently raising $400 million in a Series E round in May 2017 at a preferred price per share of $11.28. This valued the company at $3.8 billion and included investors such as Sequoia, Zeev, and Wellington. Previous investors include Kleiner Perkins, T Rowe Price, Comcast, and others. Houzz has been marked down in the Prime Unicorn Index twice due to EPEN filings, with the company now valued at $3.1 billion following an EPEN in January 2023, which lowered its PPPS to $8.07.
Maplebear, Inc. (DBA: Instacart) offers a grocery delivery service that allows users to select groceries from items at stores like Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, Safeway, and Costco via a mobile phone or the Web. Instacart most recently raised a Series I round in March 2021 at a preferred price per share of $125, valuing the company at $32.9 billion. However, since its last round, Instacart has been marked down twice in the Index due to a drop in common share prices disclosed through Employee Plan Exemption Notices (EPENs). Following an EPEN filing in April 2022, Instacart’s preferred price per share dropped to $79.56, valuing the company at $21 billion. More recently, it filed an EPEN in March 2023, dropping its preferred share price to $32.01, which reduced its valuation to $8.4 billion. Previous investors include Kleiner Perkins, A16Z, Sequoia, D1, Fidelity, and T Rowe Price.
Viz.ai, Inc. is an artificial intelligence medical imaging company that helps optimize emergency treatment. The Company’s AI is designed to help speed up the time it takes for doctors to diagnose patients accurately and make comparisons instantly to thousands of scans to find patterns that lead to precise treatments. Viz has raised six times, most recently in a $100 million Series D in April 2022 at $6.35 per share. This valued the company at $1.1 billion and included participation from Kleiner Perkins, Google Ventures, Tiger Global, Threshold Ventures, and others.
Honorable Mentions:
Magic Leap is a current Prime Unicorn Index component that Kleiner Perkins exited. The company develops human computing interface technology and software known as Cinematic Reality™. This software will be able to superimpose 3D computer-generated imagery over real-world objects using optical displays. The company was valued at $5 billion following its last investment in October 2017.
Newsela is a Kleiner Perkins portfolio company that has been removed from the Index after falling below the $1 billion threshold. Newsela unlocks the written word by publishing daily news articles at five reading levels to engage students in grades 2-12 in high-interest topics.