Khosla Ventures is a venture capital firm focused on early stage companies in the Internet

Internet

The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...

, computing

Computing

Computing is usually defined as the activity of using and improving computer hardware and software. It is the computer-specific part of information technology...

, mobile

Mobile technology

Mobile technology is a collective term used to describe the various types of cellular communication technology. Mobile CDMA technology has evolved quite rapidly over the past few years...

, silicon technology and clean technology

Clean technology

Clean technology includes recycling, renewable energy , information technology, green transportation, electric motors, green chemistry, lighting, Greywater, and many other appliances that are now more energy efficient. It is a means to create electricity and fuels, with a smaller environmental...

 sectors.

The firm is based in Menlo Park, California

Menlo Park, California

Menlo Park, California is a city at the eastern edge of San Mateo County, in the San Francisco Bay Area of California, in the United States. It is bordered by San Francisco Bay on the north and east; East Palo Alto, Palo Alto, and Stanford to the south; Atherton, North Fair Oaks, and Redwood City...

 and manages approximately $1.3 billion of investor capital as well as earlier funds funded by Khosla himself.

History

The firm was founded in 2004 by Vinod Khosla

Vinod Khosla

Vinod Khosla is an Indian-born American venture capitalist and an influential personality in Silicon Valley....

 a former general partner of Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. The firm's first two investment vehicles were funded with Khosla's own personal capital and were not open to institutional investors. In March 2009, Pierre Lamond

Pierre Lamond

Pierre R Lamond is a venture capitalist in Silicon Valley, who has specialised in semiconductors. He was a partner at Sequoia Capital based in Menlo Park from 1981 until he left to join Vinod Khosla's Khosla Ventures as General Partner in March 2009....

 became General Partner. In December 2009, Khosla completed fundraising for two new funds, to invest in cleantech and information technology

Information technology

Information technology is the acquisition, processing, storage and dissemination of vocal, pictorial, textual and numerical information by a microelectronics-based combination of computing and telecommunications...

 start-ups.

Khosla Ventures Fund III secured $1 billion of investor commitments to invest in traditional early stage and growth stage companies. Khosla also raised $300 million for Khosla Seed, which will invest in higher-risk opportunities and science experiments. Within cleantech, the firm has invested in bio-refineries

Biorefinery

A biorefinery is a facility that integrates biomass conversion processes and equipment to produce fuels, power, heat, and value-added chemicals from biomass...

 for energy and bioplastic

Bioplastic

Bioplastics are a form of plastics derived from renewable biomass sources, such as vegetable fats and oils, corn starch, pea starch, or microbiota, rather than fossil-fuel plastics which are derived from petroleum...

s, solar, wind, battery, engines, LED, HVAC efficiency and other environmentally friendly technologies. . The company focuses on technology risk based investing in very large markets.

External links

• Khosla Ventures (company website)