December 15, 2020 12:02 PM Eastern Standard Time
SAN FRANCISCO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Today, XYZ Venture Capital opened up about its mission, model and team for the first time when announcing its second fund. Building on the success of Fund I, which made early investments in companies now worth over $6 billion in aggregate value, XYZ’s new fund is dedicated to accelerating the growth and execution of early-stage companies. The $80 million fund will back talented founders in the firm’s core areas of focus, consisting of fintech infrastructure, enterprise collaboration and tech-forgotten industries like insurance and the public sector.
XYZ was founded by prolific investor Ross Fubini, formerly of Kapor Capital, Canaan Partners and Village Global, who is known for his ability to make connections that change industries. Notably, he introduced Palantir’s first business hire to its earliest engineer (now COO and CTO, respectively). The long and successful relationships formed over the last decade, during which Fubini has served as an advisor and executive coach to leaders within Palantir, influence XYZ’s portfolio today. To date, XYZ has backed 22 companies associated with the Palantir network, including Anduril, Mosaic and Saltbox.
Providing the right founders the insight, connections and capital to build their companies as fast as humanly possible, XYZ helps carve out new spaces. This is particularly important as fintech and enterprise startups gain energy and attract increasing attention, creating more competitive landscapes.
XYZ’s team of investors has deep domain expertise in these sectors, having tracked and assisted companies in scaling from a few engineers to multibillion-dollar businesses. They become an extension of early-stage teams to help founders adeptly overcome the significant learning curve between formation and Series A.
“Early-stage companies and entrepreneurs have a unique set of needs as they try to get their arms around how to take an idea and turn it into a functional, thriving business,” said Fubini. “This is where my passion lies, and I’ve put together the ideal team who understands that the trajectory to startup success is not all up and to the right. We will be our portfolio companies’ strongest advocates and fiercest supporters, working to accelerate their growth but also guiding them through the inevitable bumps in the road.”
The XYZs for Growing Exceptional Companies
Fubini, whose great grandfather Guido Fubini worked with Albert Einstein, named the firm in a nod to the math that drives technology – particularly concepts like position, velocity and acceleration. The firm’s view is that building a business is equally complex, with a number of variables working in relation. XYZ specializes in helping its portfolio companies determine what to build and with whom; ascertain who their initial customers are and why; and connect with the best people to raise subsequent funding to go faster.
XYZ also strives to bring transparency to venture capital. As capital becomes a commodity in venture, it is hard to discern what it’s actually like to partner with a firm post-investment. From the very beginning of engagement, as early as the due diligence stage, XYZ gets to work for founders, helping them chart out milestones, meet the right people and tell the story that will enable them to secure funding in the future. Operating based on the understanding that founders know their companies best, the XYZ team knows the landscape and the network of funders better than anyone, assisting founders in finding the ideal fit. This approach unlocks the insights that enable entrepreneurs to blitz forward with confidence.
Combining domain expertise to help companies go faster with transparency and connections to grow smarter and execute better, XYZ has made more than 40 investments to date. Fund I backed early-stage companies that are already worth more than $6 billion in aggregate value. Its current portfolio companies, including Anduril, Mosaic, Newfront Insurance, Nova Credit, Stir and Very Good Security, are defining the future and creating wildly improved products that people love.
“I’ve worked closely with Ross for over ten years since my early Palantir days,” said Brian Schimpf, co-founder and CEO of Anduril. “He has strong relationships with the key players in the industry and enthusiastically makes pivotal introductions to drive a business forward. Now he’s surrounded himself with an incredibly gifted team at XYZthat adds another dimension to helping startups succeed.”
Operating with a presence on both the east and west coast, the XYZ team includes Fubini and Partner Chauncey Hamilton, whom he actively recruited from First Round Capital. Fubini and Hamilton also added talented analysts JeanClaude Dorsainvil and Mariana “Mars” Garza, each of whom has strong venture experience, to embed themselves with portfolio companies so that Fubini and Hamilton can focus on investing in enduring companies and startup execution.
“Throughout my years at First Round, I got to know the best investors in the Valley,” said Hamilton. “And if you ask entrepreneurs who made the biggest difference in their growth trajectories, the consistent answer is always Ross, which is no surprise to anyone who knows him. The opportunity to build a new kind of firm with him and add substantial value as an investor was too good to pass up. Together, with JeanClaude and Mars, we can guide entrepreneurs to accomplish great things and make a meaningful impact on their respective industries.”
To learn more about XYZ, please visit www.xyz.vc.
