Kleiner Perkins

What Kleiner Perkins does

Kleiner Perkins is a venture capital firm founded in 1972 and headquartered on Sand Hill Road in Menlo Park, California. The firm invests across early-stage, incubation, and growth-stage companies in technology, internet, life sciences, and frontier sectors, and has backed more than 600 portfolio companies across its five-decade history. Iconic historical exits include Google, Amazon, Genentech, Sun Microsystems, Spotify, Slack, Figma, and DoorDash, anchoring the firm's reputation as a Tier-1 institutional venture investor.

The firm's investment focus has shifted materially toward AI infrastructure and applications, defense technology, and industrial robotics in 2025-2026, with publicly disclosed positions in Anthropic, Harvey, OpenEvidence, Rogo, Saronic, Mind Robotics, Mirendil, and Waymo. Kleiner Perkins also operates an in-house incubation practice through its sFund subsidiary, having relaunched company-building activity with Roadrunner in May 2026 after a multi-year gap since Glean. The firm's senior leadership includes John Doerr as Chair and Mamoon Hamid leading the next-generation team, supported by operating partners and the KP Fellows program.

As a private partnership, Kleiner Perkins generates revenue from management fees on committed capital across its fund vehicles and from carried interest on realized exits. The internal team is intentionally lean (11-50 employees), with the firm previously operating under the KPCB brand. While specific AUM and revenue figures are not publicly disclosed, the firm's deal cadence in 2026, including multiple nine-figure lead investments, indicates active deployment across at least one successor fund vintage.

Name

Kleiner Perkins

Legal name

Kleiner Perkins

Website

https://kleinerperkins.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1972

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Kleiner Perkins is a Sand Hill Road venture capital firm founded in 1972 that invests across early-stage and growth-stage technology, life sciences, and frontier companies, with an active 2026 thesis spanning AI, defense technology, and industrial robotics across 600+ portfolio companies.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Venture Capital

NAICS

Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (523940)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro primary industry

Multi-Sector / Generalist Growth Equity (FSANACAO)

akta.pro secondary industries

Venture Studios / Company Builders (FSANAAAH), Energy & Sustainability / Climate Growth Equity (FSANACAG)

Keywords

• Venture capital investing
• Early stage funding
• Growth stage investment
• Technology startup capital
• Biotech venture capital

Headquarters

HQ city

Menlo Park

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Carried interest and management fees on venture funds: Kleiner Perkins generates revenue primarily through management fees on committed fund capital and carried interest (typical 20%+) on profitable exits across its venture funds; returns are driven by portfolio realizations such as Genentech, Amazon, Google, Sun Microsystems, Spotify, Slack, Figma, Nest, and other IPO/acquisition outcomes.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Kleiner Perkins is a venture capital firm that partners with technology founders across stages — from early and incubation through growth to IPO and beyond — providing equity capital, executive and board recruiting, strategic operating support, and access to a multi-decade founder and C-suite network. Investments span consumer, enterprise, fintech, biotech, climate, defense, and AI-first verticals, with selective in-house founder incubation (e.g., Glean, Roadrunner) alongside partner-led lead investing.

Product overview

Kleiner Perkins does not offer a unified product or platform-plus-modules architecture; it is a venture capital firm whose offering is investment partnership services backed by a portfolio of companies spanning multiple sectors. The Kleiner Perkins Fellows program represents an additional service offering, while the firm's website serves as the primary surface showcasing the portfolio and team rather than a packaged product suite.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• sFund: Investment initiative to fund and build applications and services that deliver on the promise of the social web, launched in 2010 with strategic partners including Amazon.com, Facebook, Zynga, Comcast, Liberty Media and Allen & Co.
• Kleiner Perkins Fellows
• Builders

Products and services

• Venture Capital Investment Partnership Services Multi-stage venture capital investment services — from seed and incubation to growth and pre-IPO — combined with company-building operating support such as executive and board recruiting, OKRs adoption, strategic guidance, customer and talent introductions, and selective in-house incubation. Capital is allocated to portfolio companies via negotiated priced equity rounds, SAFE/convertible structures, and direct investments across AI, fintech, healthcare, consumer, enterprise, biotech, climate, and hardtech.

Quantifiable outcome

• 20x return on Nest investment, returning over 60% of the fund from a single bet when Google acquired Nest in 2014 for $3.2B
• +4 more outcomes

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

13 partnerships are on record, tiered flagship — autonomous driving leader crossing the threshold into commercial infrastructure., flagship — among kp's most important ai-era investments representing foundational model development., flagship — backed by ilya fushman; ai engine powering the physical economy., flagship — led by partners mamoon hamid and ilya fushman., flagship — kp led series b in 2017 and continued across stages; figma went public in 2025., flagship — one of the most valuable private companies in the world., flagship — led doordash's series b; today connects 390,000+ merchants, 1m+ dashers, and 18m+ customers., flagship — kp bet against widespread skepticism that streaming music could work in the us., flagship — john doerr continues as a board director of alphabet., flagship — kp serves on amazon's board and helped originate amazon prime., flagship — defining investment of the internet age and proof of kp's ability to identify new epochs., flagship — multiple sun founders and leaders later became kp partners. and flagship — co-founded the biotech industry with kp as the seed investor and board partner..

• Waymoflagship — autonomous driving leader crossing the threshold into commercial infrastructure.Strategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2026Backed in 2026 with partner Nadia Cochinwala. Waymo operates fully driverless robotaxi services across six major U.S. cities, expanding to more than 20 globally, having logged over 200 million miles of fully autonomous operation.
• Anthropicflagship — among kp's most important ai-era investments representing foundational model development.Strategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Backed Anthropic in 2025 with partner Lucas Oliveira. Anthropic builds Claude, the AI safety-focused large language model company co-founded by Dario Amodei and Daniela Amodei. The partnership reflects KP's broader AI-first thesis that foundational model development will be one of the defining bets of this generation.
• Motive (formerly KeepTruckin)flagship — backed by ilya fushman; ai engine powering the physical economy.Strategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022Invested in 2022. Motive provides an AI-powered platform connecting vehicles, equipment, and facilities to the cloud, serving businesses across trucking, construction, agriculture, manufacturing, and energy.
• Ripplingflagship — led by partners mamoon hamid and ilya fushman.Strategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2019Led Rippling's Series A in 2019 with a $25M check — at the time, KP's largest early-stage investment ever. Rippling has grown from 150 employees to 2,000+ and now offers two dozen cloud-based software products spanning HR, IT, and finance for over 10,000 customers.
• Figmaflagship — kp led series b in 2017 and continued across stages; figma went public in 2025.Strategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2017Led Figma's Series B in 2017 with partners Josh Coyne and Mamoon Hamid. Figma grew from a browser-based design tool into a platform used by over 13 million people for collaborative digital product creation. Dylan Field, the founder, was a 2012 Kleiner Perkins Fellow.
• Stripeflagship — one of the most valuable private companies in the world.Strategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2015Backed Stripe in 2015, recognizing that the company had shown remarkable traction and was on a path to becoming the financial infrastructure layer for the modern internet. Today Stripe processes hundreds of billions of dollars in payments annually for millions of businesses globally.
• DoorDashflagship — led doordash's series b; today connects 390,000+ merchants, 1m+ dashers, and 18m+ customers.Strategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2014Led DoorDash's Series B in 2015, betting on the founders' technology, customer obsession, and last-mile logistics vision. Today the company is a public platform helping local businesses thrive in the convenience economy.
• Spotifyflagship — kp bet against widespread skepticism that streaming music could work in the us.Strategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2011Backed Spotify's US push in 2011 as Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon navigated capital-intensive music label guarantees. Spotify went public through a Direct Listing in 2018 and became one of the largest drivers of global music revenue growth.
• Googleflagship — john doerr continues as a board director of alphabet.Strategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 1999Wrote KP's largest-ever check in 1999 after Andy Bechtolsheim introduced Larry Page and Sergey Brin. John Doerr helped recruit Eric Schmidt (CEO), Wayne Rosing (VP Engineering), and Jonathan Rosenberg (SVP Product), introduced OKRs for goal-setting, and brought in executive coach Bill Campbell. The investment transformed how the world accesses information.
• Amazonflagship — kp serves on amazon's board and helped originate amazon prime.Strategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 1996Invested in 1996 after Bill Campbell connected John Doerr to Leslie Koch; served as business builders by recruiting VPs of Engineering (Dave Risher from Microsoft, Rick Dalzell from Walmart) and CFO Joy Covey. KP connected Jeff Bezos with Bing Gordon, whose 'receiving an Amazon package is magic' insight led to Amazon Prime. Bing Gordon joined Amazon's board at Prime's launch.
• Netscapeflagship — defining investment of the internet age and proof of kp's ability to identify new epochs.Strategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 1994Backed Netscape in 1994 with John Doerr joining the board; the company's 1995 IPO priced at $2.9B valuation, becoming one of the defining moments of the dot-com era. The investment's legacy lives on through the Mozilla open-source project built from Netscape's code.
• Sun Microsystemsflagship — multiple sun founders and leaders later became kp partners.Strategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 1982Backed in 1982; a KP partner joined the board and later took a sabbatical from the firm to help develop the SPARC microprocessor. Sun became 'a farm system for Silicon Valley' — Andy Bechtolsheim, Bill Joy, Vinod Khosla, and Scott McNealy were founders; several later became KP partners.
• Genentechflagship — co-founded the biotech industry with kp as the seed investor and board partner.Strategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 1976Co-founded in 1976 when a young KP partner provided seed capital to Herb Boyer and Bob Swanson. KP partners joined the board and helped pioneer a model of licensing science to established pharma partners while building internal R&D — the blueprint for the entire biotech industry. Roche acquired Genentech in 2009 at a $100B valuation.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Sequoia Capital: KP's most direct competitor — both are tier-1 Silicon Valley VC firms investing across stages from seed to growth. Sequoia co-invested with KP on Rogo, Parallel Web Systems, NewLimit, Engram, and Sail Research in 2026, and historically competed for the same founders (Google-era, Stripe-era).
• Andreessen Horowitz (a16z): Tier-1 multi-stage VC firm with overlapping portfolio (Anthropic, Mirendil, Mind Robotics, Formation Bio). a16z's dedicated bio/health and crypto funds compete directly with KP's vertical specialist thesis, and both firms have built strong brand and operating-partner models.
• Founders Fund: Direct peer that co-led or participated with KP on multiple 2026 deals (Saronic, Roadrunner, NewLimit, Garner Health, Poetic, Stord). Founders Fund focuses on founder-led, contrarian bets across stages — the same core thesis as KP.
• Khosla Ventures: Multi-stage VC firm founded by Vinod Khosla (Sun Microsystems alumnus, a KP portfolio company). Co-invested with KP on Mind Robotics, Rogo, Parallel Web Systems, and Phia in 2026. Competes in AI, climate, and biotech verticals.
• Index Ventures: Tier-1 transatlantic VC firm that led Garner Health's $100M Series E where KP participated; also co-invested in Parallel Web Systems. Both firms lead rounds across seed-to-growth in enterprise software, fintech, and consumer.
• General Catalyst: Multi-stage VC firm with a heavy AI and healthcare thesis. Co-led Avoca's Series B with Meritech (where KP participated), co-invested in Engram and Formation Bio in 2026. Both firms have built deep operating partner networks.
• Bessemer Venture Partners: Long-tenured multi-stage VC firm (founded 1911) with similar stage flexibility and sector breadth. Co-invested with KP on Saronic ($1.75B Series D) and Vapi ($50M Series B) in 2026. Strong franchise in enterprise SaaS and biotech.
• Greenoaks: Concentrated, high-conviction growth-stage investor that participated in NewLimit's Series C alongside KP. Operates a similar 'lead from conviction' thesis at the growth stage with large, long-duration checks.
• Lightspeed Venture Partners: Multi-stage VC firm with deep AI, enterprise, and consumer franchises. Comparable stage flexibility (seed to growth) and a similar tier-1 brand that competes with KP for the same founder pipelines.
• Thrive Capital: Concentrated, founder-first VC firm that co-invested with KP on Rogo, NewLimit, Garner Health, and Formation Bio in 2026. Comparable conviction-led, lead-investor approach across consumer, enterprise, and biotech.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/kleinerperkins
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@KleinerPerkinsVideos
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/kleinerperkins
• Facebookfacebook.com/kleinerperkinsprofile

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles12 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments1605 records

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Frequently asked questions about Kleiner Perkins