Founders Fund
Founders Fund is a San Francisco-based venture capital firm founded by Peter Thiel, Ken Howery, and Luke Nosek (PayPal co-founders). Known for making bold, contrarian investments in transformative technology companies, they have backed some of the most successful companies of the past two decades including SpaceX, Palantir, and Airbnb. Their healthcare investments focus on breakthrough technologies in genomics, longevity, and drug discovery.
Investment Thesis
Founders Fund invests in companies building transformative technologies that others may consider too ambitious or unconventional. They seek founders tackling hard problems with breakthrough approaches. In healthcare and life sciences, they focus on companies using technology to fundamentally reimagine drug discovery, diagnostics, and longevity research.
Team
Partners / Managing Directors (Health & Bio Focus)
- Peter Thiel - Co-Founder & Partner
- Brian Singerman - Partner
- Napoleon Ta - Partner
- Trae Stephens - Partner
Other Key Team Members
- Keith Rabois - Former Partner (now at Khosla Ventures)
- Cyan Banister - Partner
- Lauren Gross - Partner
Focus Areas
- Technology
- Aerospace & Defense
- Healthcare Technology
- Genomics & Sequencing
- Longevity & Aging
- AI/ML
- Biotechnology
- Drug Discovery
Notable Portfolio Companies (Healthcare/Biotech)
- Ultima Genomics - $600M funding round (2022, next-gen sequencing at $100/genome)
- Neuralink - Brain-computer interfaces
- ResearchGate - Scientific research platform
- Stemcentrx - Acquired by AbbVie (2016, $5.8B)
Notable Exits
- SpaceX - Continuing (valued at $180B+)
- Palantir Technologies - IPO (2020, NYSE: PLTR)
- Airbnb - IPO (2020, NASDAQ: ABNB)
- Facebook - IPO (2012, NASDAQ: META)
- Stemcentrx - Acquired (2016, by AbbVie for $5.8B)
Sources
Portfolio Companies
| Name | Location | Founded | Categories |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ultima Genomics | Fremont, California, USA | 2016 | genomics-sequencingbiotech+1 |