Founders fund
Founders Fund is a San Francisco-based venture capital firm that invests at every stage in companies developing revolutionary technologies. The firm and its partners have been investors, founders, and early employees of prominent technology companies, such as PayPal, Facebook, Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX), and Palantir Technologies. Founded in 2005, Founders Fund has raised five funds to date, with more than $2 billion in aggregate capital under management. The firm has traditionally invested in a variety of sectors, including aerospace, artificial intelligence, advanced computing, energy, health, and consumer internet.
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Fractile secures approximately $250 million chip order from Anthropic, plans to raise about $600 million at a $6.5 billion valuation
Odaily Planet Daily reported that AI chip startup Fractile is in advanced negotiations for a new funding round, planning to raise approximately $600 million at a pre-money valuation of $6.5 billion, a significant increase from its valuation of around $1 billion three months ago. Sources familiar with the matter revealed that this round of financing is expected to be co-led by Lightspeed Venture Partners and Redpoint Ventures; other sources also indicated that Thrive Capital and Founders Fund are participating as co-leads. The funding round has not yet been finalized, and specific terms may still change.Additionally, sources said Fractile has reached a preliminary chip supply agreement with Anthropic worth approximately $250 million, with plans to further expand the contract scale in the future. The related chips are expected to be deployed in 2027. (Bloomberg)
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US university SpaceX holdings overview: Harvard University holds a heavy position of $2.2 billion; the University of California holds $1 billion; Washington University in St. Louis holds approximately $2 billion; the University of North Carolina holds app
Odaily News, August 14 close: Shares of Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) closed at $140 per share, with a total market capitalization of $1.85 trillion, up 3.7% cumulatively from the offering price, successfully recovering nearly 50% of the post-listing pullback.According to recently disclosed 13F filings, as of the end of Q2 2026, Harvard University's Harvard Management Company (HMC) held total US equity positions of $4.26 billion, of which SpaceX accounted for the lion's share with 12.9351 million shares valued at $2.21 billion, representing a weight of 51.9%.The University of California system disclosed approximately $1 billion in SpaceX holdings; at the University of North Carolina system, SpaceX represents approximately 10% of the endowment fund (Odaily note: public information shows the fund is approximately $15 billion in size), primarily stemming from early joint investments with Founders Fund; Washington University in St. Louis has a holding ratio of 14%-16%, and its $13.4 billion endowment fund has benefited significantly from a direct capital injection in 2018 and indirect follow-on investments; Stanford University also holds substantial positions through top venture capital firms such as Sequoia Capital and a16z. Most of these universities entered when SpaceX was valued at only a few hundred million dollars in its early startup phase, fully capturing the valuation leap from the primary market to the secondary market, once again validating the core logic of ultra-long-term capital, exemplified by the Yale model, enhancing returns through venture capital. (Interface News)Previously reported: Harvard University holds a heavy position of $2.2 billion in SpaceX stock.
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星球日报
Bloomberg: AI Investment Boom Widens VC Market Divide, Small and Medium-Sized Funds Face Survival Crisis
According to Bloomberg, the current venture capital market is undergoing significant structural differentiation. As capital concentrates on top artificial intelligence startups, a large number of small and medium-sized venture capital funds are facing severe challenges including fundraising difficulties, declining performance, and narrowing exit channels. The report pointed out that the excessive hype for artificial intelligence has distorted the venture capital market. Data shows that just five companies—OpenAI, Anthropic, xAI, Waymo, and Nscale—accounted for 78% of all venture capital transaction volume in the first quarter of this year. Capital has flowed heavily towards a few top investors who bet early on AI, such as Founders Fund and Andreessen Horowitz, while small emerging fund managers find it difficult to compete with these top institutions. This differentiation is directly reflected in fundraising data. Last year, newly established management companies (managing three or fewer funds) raised only about $62 billion, a significant decrease of about 60% compared to $163.4 billion during the 2022 pandemic peak. Even for experienced management teams, last year's fundraising amount was only $84 billion, only one-third of that in 2022. Many LPs face liquidity pressure and are more inclined to demand returns on existing investments rather than commit new capital.
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Decentralized derivatives trading platform 01 launches retroactive point claims, previously acquired by N1 Chain
the decentralized derivatives trading platform 01 Exchange officially announced that retroactive point claims are now live. If users have traded during the testing phase, they can now claim additional points. Starting this Tuesday, bonus points will be distributed daily, and traders will receive corresponding additional points over the next two weeks.Previously, 01 Exchange announced that it has been acquired by N1 Chain, a project supported by Founders Fund.
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AI server intermediary platform Hydra Host raises $100 million, led by Kindred Ventures
Hydra Host, a data center software startup and AI server intermediary platform, has completed a $100 million funding round at a post-money valuation of nearly $800 million. The round was led by Kindred Ventures. Other investors include Nvidia, ARK Invest, Magnetar Capital (an early investor in CoreWeave), and existing shareholders Founders Fund and Flume Ventures.Founded in 2021, Hydra Host initially served cryptocurrency miners but has since pivoted to providing automation software for data center operators. This software enables them to rent out idle Nvidia AI server computing power and operate a GPU matching marketplace connecting GPU holders with renters. The company has now deployed its technology across 50 data centers globally, expanding from 30 in February of this year. (The Information)
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Venture capital firm Founders Fund deployed its $4.6 billion fund within one year, making significant investments in leading AI and technology companies such as OpenAI and Anthropic.
According to The Information, as AI unicorns continue to attract massive capital inflows, venture capital (VC) firms are accelerating their fundraising efforts at an unprecedented pace. Founders Fund has already launched a new $6 billion fund this year to invest in late-stage growth companies—the first time in the firm’s 20-year history that it has raised capital from limited partners (LPs) less than two years after its previous fundraise. Reportedly, Founders Fund’s $4.6 billion fund raised in 2025 has been largely deployed, with capital allocated primarily across seven standout companies—averaging $600 million per investment—including AI and tech leaders such as OpenAI, Anthropic, Ramp, and Cognition. Market observers believe that the sustained heating of the generative AI sector, coupled with surging funding needs among top AI companies, is propelling the global venture capital industry into a new fundraising and investment cycle—and driving large funds to deploy and replenish capital at an unprecedented speed.
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Coinbase Founder's New Company NewLimit Raises $435 Million in Series C Funding, Valued at $3.1 Billion
: NewLimit, a longevity technology startup co-founded by Coinbase founder Brian Armstrong, announced the completion of a $435 million Series C funding round, achieving a valuation of $3.1 billion. The round was led by Peter Thiel's fund, Founders Fund, with continued participation from Abstract Ventures, Kleiner Perkins, NFDG, Eli Lilly Ventures, Valor Equity Partners, and others. New investors introduced in this round include Thrive Capital, Greenoaks, and Quiet Capital.In 2021, Brian Armstrong, along with former GV partner and bioengineer Blake Byers and stem cell biologist Jacob Kimmel, jointly invested $110 million to establish NewLimit in South San Francisco.
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AI programming startup Cognition completes over $1 billion in funding, valuation reaches $25 billion
: AI programming startup Cognition announced the completion of a new funding round of over $1 billion, with its pre-money valuation surging to $25 billion, doubling from the $10.2 billion post-money valuation achieved just 8 months ago.This funding round was led by Lux Capital and General Catalyst, with continued participation from Founders Fund and 8VC. New investors include Ribbit Capital, Atreides, and Layer Global.According to official data, the company's AI programmer product, Devin, has achieved a 50% month-over-month growth in enterprise user adoption over the past 6 months. The company's current Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) has reached $492 million, with customers including major institutions such as Mercedes-Benz, NASA, Goldman Sachs, and Santander Bank.Facing competition from native AI coding tools such as Anthropic Claude Code, OpenAI Codex, and Google Jules, Cognition stated that Devin's continued growth and the acquisition of Windsurf assets demonstrate that independent AI programming agents still possess commercial viability.
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AI Programming Startup Cognition Raises Over $1 Billion, Valued at $26 Billion
According to Bloomberg, AI programming startup Cognition AI has announced a new funding round exceeding $1 billion, valuing the company at $26 billion post-funding—more than double its valuation from the previous round in September 2025. Lux Capital, General Catalyst, and 8VC co-led the round, with participation from Ribbit Capital, Atreides Management LP, and Founders Fund—Peter Thiel’s venture capital firm.
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Founders Fund’s Fourth Growth-Stage Fund Closes at $6 Billion, Its Largest to Date
According to Bloomberg, Founders Fund’s fourth growth-stage fund, Founders Fund Growth IV, has closed on $6 billion to invest in late-stage companies—the largest fundraising in the firm’s history. Of this amount, $4.5 billion comes from limited partners (LPs), including sovereign wealth funds; the remaining $1.5 billion comes from senior management and employees of Founders Fund, including Peter Thiel himself.
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Founders Fund has added approximately $624 million in investment to Anduril, positioning itself in the AI military market.
According to The Information, Peter Thiel’s venture capital firm Founders Fund is investing approximately $624 million in Anduril’s latest funding round—making it one of the largest investors in this round. Anduril’s current round is reportedly raising around $4 billion, with an estimated valuation of $60 billion; Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) and Thrive Capital are leading the round. Anduril is a U.S.-based AI defense startup. Its founder, Palmer Luckey, previously co-founded Erebor—a digital bank tailored for cryptocurrency and tech startups—with Peter Thiel.
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