Y Ventures

What Y Ventures does

Y Ventures is an early-stage venture investment firm founded in 2007 by Jawed Karim, co-founder of YouTube and former Software Architect at PayPal, headquartered in Monrovia, California. The firm identifies and invests in early-stage technology companies, providing capital alongside strategic guidance from operators who have themselves scaled technology businesses. Its disclosed portfolio spans approximately 19 companies across consumer internet (Reddit, Airbnb, Postmates, Milo), enterprise software (PagerDuty, Gusto, HelloSign, Socket), fintech (TrueBill, FutureAdvisor), data and AI (Palantir, DataFox, Etched), proptech (Opendoor), healthtech (Counsyl), and satellite/communications (Skybox, TokBox).

Y Ventures does not develop or sell a proprietary product. As a venture capital firm, its revenue comes from management fees on committed capital and carried interest on exits — the latter has been realized through multiple liquidity events including the IPOs of Reddit (2024), Airbnb (December 2020), Palantir direct listing (2020), Opendoor, and PagerDuty (April 2019), plus acquisitions of TrueBill by Rocket Companies ($1.275B, December 2021), HelloSign by Dropbox ($230M, 2019), DataFox by Oracle (2018), Counsyl by Myriad Genetics (2018), FutureAdvisor by BlackRock (2015), Skybox by Google ($500M, 2014), TokBox by Telefonica (2012), Etacts by Salesforce (2010), Milo by eBay ($75M, 2010), and Postmates by Uber (2020).

The firm operates with 11-50 employees and sources deals primarily through founder networks, direct outreach, and referrals — channels reinforced by Jawed Karim's personal reputation and additional partners/co-founders Kevin Hartz and Keith Rabois. Y Ventures is private, founder-controlled, and discloses no institutional investors, fund sizes, or limited partner base in the available material.

Name

Y Ventures

Website

https://yventures.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2007

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Y Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm founded in 2007 by YouTube co-founder Jawed Karim. It invests in technology startups and has realized exits including Reddit, Airbnb, Palantir, Opendoor, Truebill, and HelloSign through IPOs and acquisitions.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Venture Capital

NAICS

Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (523940), Other Investment Pools and Funds (5259)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro primary industry

Early-Stage Venture Capital (Series A/B) (FSANAAAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Sector-Focused Venture Capital (Vertical Specialists) (FSANAAAD), Late-Stage Venture Capital (Series C+) (FSANAAAC)

Keywords

• Venture capital
• Early-stage investment
• Startup funding
• Technology investing
• Seed stage capital

Headquarters

HQ city

Monrovia

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Others

Core offering

Y Ventures is an early-stage venture investment group founded by Jawed Karim (co-founder of YouTube and former Software Architect at PayPal) that deploys personal capital into technology startups in exchange for equity. The firm sources deals primarily through Karim's founder network and provides strategic guidance to portfolio companies, holding positions to liquidity events such as IPOs and acquisitions. Its portfolio spans AI, fintech, marketplaces, developer tools, genomics, satellite imaging, and SaaS.

Product overview

Y Ventures is a venture capital firm that invests in technology startups. Its portfolio of notable investments spans companies including Palantir, Airbnb, Reddit, Gusto, PagerDuty, Opendoor, Etched, Socket, Field Materials, TrueBill, HelloSign, DataFox, Counsyl, FutureAdvisor, Skybox, TokBox, Etacts, Milo, and Postmates. The company does not offer a software product or SaaS platform of its own; it operates as an investment vehicle tracking startup exits and acquisitions.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Early-stage venture capital investment Capital deployed into early-stage technology startups in exchange for equity, paired with operator-level strategic guidance sourced from founder Karim's network. Targets AI, fintech, marketplace, developer-tool, SaaS, and other high-growth technology sectors, with value realized through exits such as IPOs, direct listings, and acquisitions.

Quantifiable outcome

• Multiple successful exits including Reddit IPO, Airbnb IPO, Palantir direct listing, Opendoor IPO, and acquisitions of portfolio companies including Truebill ($1.275B), HelloSign ($230M), DataFox, Counsyl, and others

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Sequoia Capital: One of the most prominent early- and growth-stage technology venture capital firms. Directly comparable to Y Ventures in targeting high-quality tech founders at the earliest stages, with a similar multi-decade track record of category-defining exits.
• Andreessen Horowitz (a16z): Tech-focused venture capital firm investing across consumer, enterprise, fintech, and frontier categories with an operator-led brand. Comparable to Y Ventures in thesis-driven early-stage tech investing and marquee portfolio exposure.
• Founders Fund: Tech-centric venture capital firm founded by PayPal/Peter Thiel-era operators. Highly comparable to Y Ventures given shared PayPal mafia principal lineage, founder-led sourcing approach, and willingness to back technically ambitious bets.
• Khosla Ventures: Tech-focused venture firm led by Vinod Khosla, another PayPal-era founder. Comparable to Y Ventures in operator pedigree, high-risk/high-conviction early-stage tech investing, and willingness to back frontier categories like AI and climate.
• Benchmark: Early-stage-focused venture capital firm with a small partner group and concentrated portfolio approach. Comparable to Y Ventures in selectivity, founder-led model, and reputation for identifying category-defining companies early.
• Greylock Partners: Early-stage enterprise and consumer tech venture capital firm with deep operator networks. Comparable to Y Ventures in tech focus, early-stage orientation, and portfolio companies spanning enterprise software and consumer platforms.
• Kleiner Perkins: Long-tenured technology venture capital firm investing across stages in consumer, enterprise, fintech, and frontier tech. Comparable to Y Ventures in tech concentration, multi-decade track record, and willingness to back ambitious founders.
• Accel: Early- and growth-stage venture capital firm with a strong reputation in consumer and enterprise software. Comparable to Y Ventures in early-stage tech investing and global brand recognition among technical founders.
• First Round Capital: Seed-stage venture capital firm with a reputation for early access to high-quality tech founders. Comparable to Y Ventures in stage focus, founder-network-driven sourcing, and concentration on transformative technology companies.
• New Enterprise Associates (NEA): Large, multi-stage technology venture capital firm with decades of experience across consumer, enterprise, and frontier categories. Comparable to Y Ventures in tech orientation and long-vintage investment approach, though at substantially greater scale.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks4 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments7 records

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Y Ventures