“Roy was the firestarter,” said longtime technology executive Ken Coleman, the son of a Centralia, Illinois, maid and a heater factory laborer, who Clay helped land a job at Hewlett-Packard out of the Air Force in the 1970s. What’s more, the future hall-of-fame technologist was among the first to recruit math and science graduates from historically Black universities and colleges and show them the ropes in the fast-growing tech industry. Over nearly five decades in Silicon Valley, he was a key figure in the development of HP’s computer division, ran his own consulting firm, advised one of the world’s top venture capital firms on investments in future tech giants like Intel and Compaq and started a successful company that manufactured electrical safety test equipment. Clay hoped the Bay Area would be “a place for new beginnings.” One of the first African Americans to graduate from a previously all-white college or university in a former slave state, Clay was headed for a job at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory to create a radiation tracking software system mapping the aftermath of a nuclear explosion.Īt the time, the world wasn’t welcoming to Black professionals. With few spots for Black travelers to stop for food or the night, Clay and his family were guided along Route 66 through a hostile terrain of Confederate flags and “colored only” restrooms by the Negro Motorist Green Book. That’s all we needed – so I thought,” he wrote in his memoir last year. “We had excellent road maps, some good old common sense, and my mother’s prayers. set off in a shiny 1956 Black Ford on a four-day, 2,300-mile journey from his hometown of St. This data was put together with the VC Deals App.In 1958, Roy Clay Sr. Their biggest round was into Minneapolis based Bright Health. Bessemer was the most active VC in new york, funding 11 companies. Bessemerīessemer Venture Partners rounds out our list of venture capital firms, taking part in 36 deals, up from 33 the year before. They were one of the most diverse venture capital funds in terms of location, investing in companies outside of Silicon Valley, including New Orleans, LA, Columbus OH, Lehi UT, and Bethesda Md. They slightly reduced their activity, writing 2 less checks than 2019. GV (formerly known as Google Ventures) invested in 37 startups. They participated in Fetch Rewards’ $80 million series C, the biggest round of 2020 for them. Outside of YC, they were the most active seed investor this year, funding 9 companies that are just out of the idea phase. Greycroft funded 39 companies, this year. They participated in Revolut’s $500 million series D, their largest check. Index Ventures also got modestly more active, up from 40 rounds last year. They led the round in Cityblock health for $160 million, their biggest bet of 2020. General Catalyst got a lot busier this year, moving up from 30 deals in 2019. General Catalyst & Indexīoth General Catalyst and Index ventures took part in 41 rounds. Their biggest deal was in security, backing SentinelOne in a $3.1 billion valuation on a $267 million raise. Insight Partners deployed capital across 46 deals in 2020. The company doubled on IPO day, even after delaying the IPO to raise price targets! 5. This was announced in September, and Affirm went public in January of 2021. Lightspeed wins amongst this list for the best returns in the same year by taking part in Affirm’s Series G for $500 million. Lightspeed Venture Partners also made a total of 51 deals in 2020. Samsara networks, an IOT technology company was the biggest round they participated in at a valuation of $5.4 billion on 400 million raised. Andreessen Horowitz & LightspeedĪ16Z participated in 51 deals in 2020, matching the number of rounds they did in 2019. The biggest of which was a round in marketing automation company Klaviyo, which raised a $200M series C. Accel was the most active growth stage fund in 2020, backing the most companies at the series B and series C (a total of 24 deals). Sequoia spent most of their time in the startup capital of the world, backing 19 companies in San Francisco, the most out of any firm. The biggest checks were made out to Robinhood, which raised a whopping $940M across 2 rounds. Sequoia participated in 66 deals over the course of 2020, up from 46 the year before and begins our list as the top vc firm.
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