Company type | Private |
---|---|
Industry | Venture Capital |
Founded | 2004 |
Headquarters | San Francisco, CA |
Key people | Jeff Clavier, Founder and Managing Partner Andy McLoughlin, Managing Partner |
Products | Investments |
Website | www.uncorkcapital.com |
Uncork Capital (formerly known as SoftTech VC) is a venture capital firm based in San Francisco, California, founded by Jeff Clavier. Considered one of the most active established seed funds in Silicon Valley, [1] it has invested in companies such as Postmates, Eventbrite, Fitbit, and SendGrid.
The firm was founded in 2004 by angel investor Jeff Clavier when he transitioned his portfolio into a formal venture firm. [2] Partners include Andy McLoughlin (formerly of Huddle), Susan Liu (formerly of Scale Venture Partners), Tripp Jones (formerly of August Capital), [3] and Amy Saper (formerly of Accel). [4] As of 2024, the firm had invested in over 260 early stage start-ups. [5]
In 2017, the firm changed its name from SoftTech VC to Uncork Capital. [6]
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verification. (February 2023) |
The firm primarily invests in SaaS (software as a service), marketplaces, consumer services and "frontier technology" ventures. [7] With a focus on seed-stage funding, the firm generally aims to secure between 8-12+% ownership of the companies it invests in. [8] [9]
The firm's first fund raised less than $1 million, [10] while the second fund raised $15 million in 2007.
In 2012, Fund III oversubscribed at $55 million, [11] and, in 2014, they closed their fourth fund at $85 million, bringing their capital under management to $155 million. [12] [13]
In 2016, the firm raised $100 million for SoftTechVC V and $50 million for a breakout fund. [9] In 2019, the firm raised $100M for Uncork VI and $100M for their second breakout find, Plus II. [14]
In 2023, the firm raised $200M for Uncork VII and $200M for their third breakout fund, Plus III. [15]
Notable investments have included: Eventbrite, Fitbit, Postmates, SendGrid, Survata, Gnip, BrightRoll, Vidyard, LiveRamp, [16] [9] about.me,[ citation needed] August Home,[ citation needed] Bitly,[ citation needed] Bleacher Report,[ citation needed] Blekko,[ citation needed] Chariot,[ citation needed] Curse LLC,[ citation needed] Gnip,[ citation needed] Handshake,[ citation needed] Kongregate,[ citation needed] Mint.com, [17] and Next Big Sound.[ citation needed]