Freestyle Capital
 | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Venture Capital |
| Founded | 2009 |
| Founder | Dave Samuel Josh Felser |
| Headquarters | , |
Key people | Dave Samuel, Co-Founder and General Partner Jenny Lefcourt, General Partner |
| Website | freestyle |
Freestyle Capital is an early-stage venture capital firm based in San Francisco, California.[1] General Partners Dave Samuel and Jenny Lefcourt are both entrepreneurs who entered venture capital after founding multiple companies.[2] The firm was founded in 2009 and typically invests in 10-12 companies per year with an average investment between $1.5 million to $3 million.[3] Previous investments include Intercom, Patreon, Narvar, Digit, Betterup, Airtable and Snapdocs.[2]
History
[edit]Freestyle was founded in 2009 by Dave Samuel and Josh Felser.[4] Prior to Freestyle, Felser and Samuel founded two companies:[2] Spinner, which they sold to AOL in 1999 for $320 million,[5][6] and Grouper (later renamed Crackle), which they sold to Sony Corp. in 2006 for $65 million.[1]
In 2011, Freestyle announced a formal fund of $27 million.[1] Freestyle raised its second fund of $40 million in 2013 and their third fund of $60 million in 2015.[2]
Jenny Lefcourt joined Freestyle toward the end of Fund II and became an equal partner at the close of Fund III.[2] Notable investments from the first three funds include Intercom, Patreon, Narvar, Digit, Wag, Betterup, Airtable and Snapdocs.[2][7]
In 2017, Freestyle raised $90 million for its fourth fund.[2]
According to the firm’s website, Josh Felser stepped down as full-time general partner in the summer of 2020 to focus his efforts on companies that foster a more resilient planet.
In March 2022, Freestyle closed its sixth fund at $130 million, making it the firm’s largest fund to date. The fund was raised in a month from existing investors.[3]
Partners
[edit]Dave Samuel earned his bachelor degree from MIT.[4] In 1996, Samuel founded and was the CEO of Spinner, one of the first online radio services, which was acquired by AOL for $320 million in 1999. In 2004, he co-founded Crackle, one of the first internet video services, which was acquired by Sony Pictures Entertainment for $65 million in 2006.[1] In addition to his work at Freestyle, Samuel is the founder and chairman of tech toilet seat company Brondell Inc.[8]
Jenny Lefcourt earned her B.S. in economics from Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania,[9] and attended the Stanford Graduate School of Business. In 1998 she left Stanford to found WeddingChannel.com, which was acquired by The Knot, and Bella Pictures, which was acquired by CPI Corp (now defunct).[10] In 2014, Lefcourt joined Freestyle and was promoted to general partner in 2015.[11] She is also a founding member and board member of All Raise,[12] and an angel investor in Discord, Minted and Main Street Hub.[13] Lefcourt was named to the Forbes “Midas Brink List” in 2021[13] and the "Midas Seed List" in 2022,[14] as well as Barron’s “100 Most Influential Women in U.S. Finance" for 2022.[15]
Notable Investments
[edit]As of March 2022, about 29% of current fund companies have a woman founder or co-founder.[3]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d Yuliya Chernova, "Seed Investor Freestyle Capital Churning Out Exits," The Wall Street Journal, December 31, 2014.
- ^ a b c d e f g Ryan Lawler, "Freestyle Capital raised a new $90 million fund and promoted Jenny Lefcourt to general partner," TechCrunch, April 10, 2017.
- ^ a b c Mascarenhas, Natasha (March 31, 2022). "For Freestyle's newest fund, the growth hack is staying the same". TechCrunch. Retrieved April 27, 2022.
- ^ a b Leena Rao, "Sweat Equity: From Co-Founders To Co-Investors, Freestyle.VC Invests More Than Just Cash," TechCrunch, July 13, 2013.
- ^ "HI-TECH'S NEW DAY". Newsweek. 10 April 2005. Retrieved 4 August 2019.
- ^ "America Online Acquires Leading Internet Music Brands -- Spinner.Com, Winamp and SHOUTcast". WarnerMedia. 1 June 1999. Retrieved 4 August 2019.
- ^ Schubarth, Cromwell (8 November 2019). "The Funded: 6 Bay Area startups score over $100M at week's end". Silicon Valley Business Journal. Retrieved 27 April 2019.
- ^ Benny Evangalista, "Bottom line means more to this firm," San Francisco Chronicle, February 7, 2005.
- ^ How to Pitch Your Startup to a Venture Capitalist, Knowledge at Wharton, 22 March 2018, retrieved 17 May 2021
- ^ Rao, Leena (30 May 2014). "WeddingChannel Co-Founder Jenny Lefcourt Joins Freestyle". TechCrunch. Retrieved 7 July 2019.
- ^ Wilhelm, Alex (2 April 2015), Freestyle Capital Locks Down $60M For Its Third Fund, Adds Jenny Lefcourt As Its Third Partner, TechCrunch, retrieved 17 May 2015
- ^ Sonnemaker, Tyler (2 May 2020). "Venture capitalists reveal the startups that changed everything in the past decade". Business Insider. Retrieved 21 May 2021.
- ^ a b "The Midas Brink List: Meet Venture Capital's Up-And-Comers For 2021". Forbes. 13 April 2021. Retrieved 21 May 2021.
- ^ "The Midas Seed List". Forbes. 14 April 2022. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
- ^ "Jenny Lefcourt". 100 Most Influential Women in US Finance. Barron’s. 15 April 2022. Retrieved 20 April 2022.