True Ventures III, LP Closes at $205 million

We are pleased to announce the closing of True Ventures III, LP at $205 million. With approximately $600 million under management, more than 100 companies already successfully funded and over 200 founders supported, Fund III will enable True to continue to invest in the most talented people building the most promising companies for years to come. We would not be here today without the two most important aspects of our business: our commitment to entrepreneurs and our investment strategy.

True was born in 2006 out of a simple vision: create a new kind of venture capital firm that focuses on the founder. Every partner at True has founded a business (or several), and many of us have focused our venture capital careers on investing in high-tech startups. Our collective experience has taught us that the most important ingredient to a startup’s success is the entrepreneur.

From the beginning, True committed to providing the founders of our portfolio companies with the tools and resources they needed to build the strongest teams and businesses possible. From this vision emerged two areas of focus: community and education. What began as a dialogue among the founders of True’s portfolio companies has today grown into the True Founders community, a dynamic web of ideas, best practices, innovation, and friendship. And what began as a series of workshops to further the education of our portfolio companies has today become True Founder Camp—24 hours of speakers, breakout sessions, and sharing of best practices. Combined with True University, our annual conference dedicated to developing the talent within our portfolio companies, and robust internship and talent acquisition programs, our commitment to supporting our founders remains as strong as ever.

When creating True, we asked ourselves a big question: “Why does the world need another venture capital firm?” We found our answer in a segment of the entrepreneurial community we felt was not being served by the funding options available at that time. Great founders of early stage technology companies can and often prefer to start their businesses with $2.5 million or less of initial capital. We set out to meet that need, creating funds small enough to work with entrepreneurs at the earliest stages but large enough to provide significant follow-on financing in later rounds.

We raised our first fund in 2006, and were privileged to invest in incredibly promising companies like Automattic (creators of WordPress) and BrightRoll. In 2008, we raised our second fund and continued to partner with the most talented founders of early stage technology startups, including Assistly (acquired by Salesforce.com), Typekit (acquired by Adobe), Socialcast (acquired by VMWare), Fitbit, Urban Airship, and Puppet Labs. Though early into Fund III, we already have high hopes for the incredible founders we have invested in, as well as their promising companies.

The market has fluctuated and changed since we started True—2008 was certainly interesting—but we have not lost sight of who we are as a company. We hold fast to our mission to serve the entrepreneur and invest in the best people starting great companies in the highest growth markets. The exceptional partners at True remain the most senior team in early growth investment space, and True remains the premier early stage venture capital firm. We are grateful to our founders, investors, and teams, with whom we celebrate this important milestone in the history of True Ventures.