Thrive Capital Management, LLC, commonly Thrive Capital, is an American venture capital firm based in New York City. It focuses on software and internet investments.[5] The firm was founded by Joshua Kushner who is also co-founder of Oscar Health and minority owner of the Memphis Grizzlies.[6][7]

Thrive Capital Management, LLC
Company typePrivate
IndustryVenture Capital
Founded2010; 14 years ago (2010)[1][2]
FounderJoshua Kushner
HeadquartersNew York City, New York, U.S.
Key people
Nitin Nohria (Executive chair)
ProductsInvestments
AUMUS$25 billion (November 2024)
OwnerJoshua Kushner (96.7%)[3]
Number of employees
64 (2024)
Websitethrivecap.com
Footnotes / references
[4]

History

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Joshua Kushner founded Thrive Capital in 2010, at 24 years old.[5][6][7][1] Joel Cutler and General Catalyst provided the initial $5 million in seed money for the firm in 2010 as well as introduced investors to the firm and Kushner.[7]

In 2011, the firm launched its first institutional fund, raising another $40 million from Princeton University, Wellcome Trust, Peter Thiel and other investors.[5][6][7] General Catalyst served as the core LP yet again for this second funding round.[1]

Following the 2016 United States presidential election, Jared Kushner was appointed as Senior Advisor to the President.[8] Jared sold his entire Thrive Capital stake to avoid conflict of interest between him and the Trump administration.[9][10][11]

In May 2021, Petershill Partners had invested around $120 million in Thrive Capital for a 3% stake,[6][12] which valued the firm at $3.6 billion.[6][12] In September 2021, the firm registered as an investment adviser with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.[13] The firm stated as part of its regulatory filing that it planned to use some funds to investment in public companies and crypto assets.[13] The same year, ten of Thrive's portfolio companies went public, including Affirm and Nubank.[1] In 2022, Nitin Nohria was brought on as the firm's first executive chair.[1]

In January 2023, a group of five investors, Bob Iger, Mukesh Ambani, Henry Kravis, Xavier Niel and Jorge Paulo Lemann, acquired a 3.3% stake of Thrive Capital.[14][15] This put Thrive at a $5.3 billion valuation - a 50% increase from when Goldman Sachs paid $175 million for the same stake in 2021.[1] Thrive then raised $1.8 billion in March 2023 to invest into Stripe at a $50 billion valuation.[16]

Thrive announced in August 2024 that it raised over $5 billion for Thrive IX, its biggest-ever set of funds and among the “largest completed this year by a venture firm.” The funds will be split between a $4 billion late-stage investment fund and a $1 billion fund dedicated to early-stage ventures.[16]

In October 2024, Thrive led a $6.5 billion funding round for OpenAI, contributing $1 billion; OpenAI’s valuation consequently increased to $157 billion.[17][18]

The firm is noted for being an early investor in several high-profile technology platforms such as Instagram, GitHub, Spotify and Twitch, Physical Intelligence, and Anysphere.[6][7] Thrive has also invested in Scale AI, A24, Stripe, Airtable, Glossier, Plaid, Anduril, Ramp, and Databricks.[1][19][20][21][22][23]

In November 2024, Financial Times detailed how Thrive’s strategy is “investing heavily in fewer companies [to] provide a closer relationship with founders and more visibility into companies”; the firm is able to simultaneously “remain faithful to early-stage investing” while also participating in growth and late stage investments.[21]

Funds

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As of 2024, Thrive has raised a total of $12.3bn, and has almost $25bn under management.[21]

Fund[24] Vintage Year Committed Capital ($m)
Thrive Capital Partners I 2009 5
Thrive Capital Partners II 2011 40
Thrive Capital Partners III 2012 150
Thrive Capital Partners IV 2014 400
Thrive Capital Partners V 2016 700
Thrive Capital Partners VI 2018 1,000
Thrive Capital Partners VII[25] 2021 2,000
Thrive Capital Partners VIII[26][27] 2022 3,000
Thrive Capital Partners IX[16] 2024 5,000

Notable investments

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Abram Brown; Kate Clark (February 24, 2023). "Josh Kushner's Budding Empire". The Information. Retrieved May 12, 2023.
  2. ^ Matt Durot (April 5, 2022). "Thrive's Josh Kushner: The Other Brother Becomes Family's First Billionaire". Forbes. Retrieved May 12, 2023.
  3. ^ Shontell, Alyson (August 30, 2024). "The rise of Joshua Kushner: How the young VC quietly built Thrive Capital into the powerhouse leading OpenAI to a $100 billion valuation". Fortune. Archived from the original on August 30, 2024.
  4. ^ "Form ADV" (PDF). SEC. Retrieved December 23, 2022.
  5. ^ a b c d e Rusli, Evelyn M. (August 22, 2011). "Joshua Kushner's Thrive Capital Raises $40 Million". DealBook. Retrieved December 23, 2022.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "How Joshua Kushner – not Jared – became his family's first billionaire". South China Morning Post. May 9, 2022. Retrieved December 23, 2022.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Durot, Matt. "Thrive's Josh Kushner: The Other Brother Becomes Family's First Billionaire". Forbes. Retrieved December 23, 2022.
  8. ^ "ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS ON WHITE HOUSE OFFICE PERSONNEL" (PDF). Trump White House Archives. June 30, 2017. Retrieved July 7, 2023.
  9. ^ Bertoni, Steven. "Josh Kushner's Complex World: How Jared's Liberal Brother Runs A Billion Dollar Fund In Trump Era". Forbes. Retrieved December 23, 2022.
  10. ^ Singh, Yuliya Chernova and Preeti (January 25, 2021). "Joshua Kushner's Thrive Capital Goes for Mega-Fundraise". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved December 23, 2022.
  11. ^ Disis, Jill (April 18, 2017). "Jared Kushner is still selling off business assets". CNNMoney. Retrieved December 23, 2022.
  12. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Goldman Sachs Is Said to Invest in Josh Kushner's Thrive Capital". Bloomberg.com. May 19, 2021. Retrieved December 23, 2022.
  13. ^ a b Chernova, Yuliya (November 29, 2021). "Josh Kushner's Thrive Capital Gains More Flexibility to Invest in Crypto, Public Stocks". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved December 23, 2022.
  14. ^ Hayes, Dade (January 24, 2023). "Bob Iger Joins Investors Taking Minority Stake In Venture Firm Thrive Capital". Deadline. Retrieved January 29, 2023.
  15. ^ Jin, Berber (January 24, 2023). "WSJ News Exclusive | Robert Iger, Henry Kravis to Buy Minority Stake in Thrive Capital". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved January 29, 2023.
  16. ^ a b c d e Berber Jin (August 5, 2024). "Thrive Capital Raises $5 Billion for Venture Funds on Heels of OpenAI Bet". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved August 8, 2024.
  17. ^ a b Cade Metz (October 2, 2024). "OpenAI Completes Deal That Values Company at $157 Billion". NY Times. Retrieved December 14, 2024.
  18. ^ a b Krystal Hu; Kenrick Cai (September 27, 2024). "OpenAI offers one investor a sweetener that no others are getting". Reuters. Retrieved December 14, 2024.
  19. ^ Jon Victor; Erin Woo (April 17, 2023). "OpenAI Wraps Up Tender as AI Talent War Heats Up". The Information. Retrieved May 12, 2023.
  20. ^ Azevedo, Mary Ann (August 22, 2023). "Fintech startup Ramp raises $300M at a 28% lower valuation of $5.8B". TechCrunch. Retrieved October 19, 2023.
  21. ^ a b c d e George Hammond (November 20, 2024). "Thrive Capital: the venture firm staking billions on a few big bets". Financial Times. Retrieved December 13, 2024.
  22. ^ Michael J. de la Merced (November 4, 2024). "Physical Intelligence, a Robot A.I. Specialist, Raises Millions From Bezos". NY Times. Retrieved December 14, 2024.
  23. ^ "Anysphere". Forbes. Retrieved December 14, 2024.
  24. ^ "Thrive Capital | Palico". www.palico.com. Retrieved December 23, 2022.
  25. ^ "Joshua Kushner's Thrive Capital raises $2 billion for latest funds". Reuters. February 11, 2021. Retrieved December 23, 2022.
  26. ^ Loizos, Connie (February 17, 2022). "New York's Thrive Capital closes its eighth fund with a whopping $3 billion". TechCrunch. Retrieved December 23, 2022.
  27. ^ a b c d e f g Chernova, Yuliya (February 17, 2022). "Thrive Capital Reloads With $3 Billion in New Funds". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved December 23, 2022.
  28. ^ Cutler, Kim-Mai (March 24, 2015). "Cadre Raises $18.3M From Thrive, General Catalyst To Build Software For Big Commercial Real Estate". TechCrunch. Retrieved December 23, 2022.
  29. ^ "Hiring Software Juggernaut Greenhouse Swallows $35M Series C | TechCrunch". September 4, 2015. Archived from the original on September 4, 2015. Retrieved December 23, 2022.
  30. ^ Higgins, Tim (October 10, 2017). "SoftBank Leads $164 Million Bet on Digital-Mapping Startup Mapbox". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved December 23, 2022.
  31. ^ O'Hear, Steve (February 23, 2017). "Confirmed: UK challenger bank Monzo raises £19.5M with another £2.5M in crowdfunding planned". TechCrunch. Retrieved December 23, 2022.
  32. ^ Shontell, Alyson. "An Admirable New Startup, Neverware, Has Raised $1 Million To Try And Save Schools A Lot Of Money". Business Insider. Retrieved December 23, 2022.
  33. ^ "OpenGov Receives $4M for Transparency Software". SiliconANGLE. July 3, 2013. Retrieved December 23, 2022.
  34. ^ Buhr, Sarah (January 19, 2016). "Patreon Gains $30 Million Series B Funding To Support Growth". TechCrunch. Retrieved December 23, 2022.
  35. ^ "David and Alan Tisch raise $7.5 million for stealthy startup Spring". Fortune. Retrieved December 23, 2022.
  36. ^ Lawler, Ryan (May 19, 2014). "Whisper Confirms $36M In New Funding, Adds Related Posts, Categories, And Explore Feature To App". TechCrunch. Retrieved December 23, 2022.
  37. ^ Lawler, Ryan (May 9, 2024). "Wiz's $12B Valuation Steals The RSA Conference Buzz, Amid VC Reset". Forbes. Retrieved May 9, 2024.
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