Kleiner Perkins

Kleiner Perkins has made more than 1,400 investments across multiple funds since its founding in 1972. These investments span various sectors and have included some of the most transformative technology companies.

Kleiner Perkins' portfolio includes companies such as Sun Microsystems, Amazon, Google, Intuit, Slack, Spotify, Figma, and Motive. These investments represent pivotal moments in technology and have had significant market impact.

In 2024, Kleiner Perkins launched KP21, an $825 million fund dedicated to early-stage companies, and Select III, a $1.2 billion growth fund for high-inflection investments. These funds reflect the firm's dual-track approach to early and growth-stage opportunities.

Kleiner Perkins has made explicit commitments to diversity and inclusion, believing that diverse teams lead to better decision-making and innovation. The firm actively seeks out startups led by underrepresented founders and has built a partnership team with varied backgrounds and expertise.

Kleiner Perkins maintains a deliberately lean organizational structure, with nine full-time investing partners. This structure is designed to enhance decision quality, maintain agility, and allow for deep engagement with portfolio companies.

Kleiner Perkins employs a 'balance sheet' approach in which partners list pros and cons of investment opportunities without initially revealing their judgments. This process encourages structured debate and reduces bias, with consensus built after comprehensive evaluation.

Kleiner Perkins' Select funds, such as Select III, are dedicated to backing companies at inflection points where early market validation has been achieved and the primary challenge is scaling operations, go-to-market efforts, and organizational infrastructure.

Kleiner Perkins maintains its primary office in Menlo Park, California, with additional offices in New York and involvement in global technology markets, including China, India, and select European jurisdictions. The firm focuses on regions with high concentrations of technology entrepreneurship.

Kleiner Perkins' investment philosophy prioritizes exceptional founders, large and growing market opportunities, product innovation, and sustainable business models. The firm values founders with deep market understanding and a strong vision, and seeks companies with clear paths to profitability and competitive advantages.

Kleiner Perkins' 'keiretsu' refers to its network of more than 250 portfolio companies and industry allies. This network enables portfolio companies to collaborate, refer business, and recruit talent, providing advantages beyond capital investment.

Kleiner Perkins' lean operational model, with approximately nine full-time investors, allows for rapid decision-making, deeper due diligence, and more intensive support for portfolio companies compared to larger, more bureaucratic firms.

As of 2024, Kleiner Perkins has positioned artificial intelligence as the dominant theme in its investment strategy. The firm targets companies building foundational AI infrastructure, AI-powered productivity tools for high-value professions, and applications with clear value propositions.

Kleiner Perkins' AI investment thesis focuses on companies building foundational AI infrastructure and AI-powered productivity tools for high-paying professions such as doctors, lawyers, and engineers. The firm believes these tools can command premium pricing and create significant value.

Kleiner Perkins partners systematically take board seats across their investments, ensuring direct involvement in strategic decision-making and governance oversight for portfolio companies. This practice extends the firm's influence and enables proactive support.

John Doerr serves as chairman of Kleiner Perkins. He joined the firm in 1980 and has played a key role in funding companies such as Google, Amazon, and Netscape. Doerr is also known for advocating Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) and for his philanthropic work.

Mamoon Hamid serves as a managing partner at Kleiner Perkins, having joined in 2017. He is a principal architect of the firm's AI investment strategy, focusing on AI-powered tools for high-income professional categories and serving on the board of Figma.

Kleiner Perkins offers operational support to portfolio companies through specialists in finance, operations, marketing, and engineering. This support includes talent recruitment, building engineering cultures, and facilitating introductions and partnerships within its network.

Kleiner Perkins conducts technical due diligence for companies addressing technical or scientific challenges. Partners with deep technical expertise evaluate proprietary algorithms, data sources, and model performance against industry benchmarks before making investment decisions.

Kleiner Perkins partner Leigh Marie Braswell identified 'seed-strapped' companies as those that raise a few million dollars in seed funding and achieve rapid growth and strong unit economics, often generating enough cash flow to fund expansion without needing traditional Series A financing.

Kleiner Perkins' decision to open its office on Sand Hill Road in Menlo Park made it the first venture capital firm to establish a formal presence there. This location became the epicenter of American venture capital, attracting many other top firms.

As of early 2025, Kleiner Perkins has raised 21 venture capital funds and 6 growth funds. The most recent funds include KP21 ($825 million for early-stage) and KP Select III ($1.2 billion for growth-stage investments), totaling $2 billion in new capital.

As of early 2025, Kleiner Perkins manages assets exceeding $10 billion. This capital base allows the firm to participate in competitive funding rounds and support portfolio companies through multiple funding cycles.

For early-stage investments, particularly through the KP21 fund, Kleiner Perkins typically writes checks ranging from $2 million to $20 million. These investments are made across seed through Series B stages, allowing the firm to establish meaningful ownership positions.

Kleiner Perkins' evaluation process for potential investments often extends over three to six months. This period includes multiple meetings with founders, technical deep-dives, and discussions with potential customers to validate market opportunity.

Kleiner Perkins was established in 1972 by Eugene Kleiner and Tom Perkins. The firm was created during a period when venture capital was transitioning from an informal, relationship-driven practice into a structured institutional investment model.

Kleiner Perkins established its headquarters on Sand Hill Road in Menlo Park, California. This location became the epicenter of American venture capital, eventually hosting many of the industry's largest firms.

Mamoon Hamid and Ilya Fushman lead Kleiner Perkins as managing partners. They have been instrumental in restructuring the firm into a focused venture boutique, emphasizing early-stage investments and AI expertise.

Leigh Marie Braswell is a partner at Kleiner Perkins with expertise in machine learning and AI applications. She previously worked at Scale AI and leads investments in AI infrastructure and productivity tools, contributing to the firm's AI-focused strategy.

Kleiner Perkins was founded by Eugene Kleiner, a former Fairchild Semiconductor engineer, and Tom Perkins, who had held leadership positions at Hewlett-Packard. Their combined expertise in engineering and business operations shaped the firm's early direction.