Formation 8

Formation 8, a California-based technology investment firm, focuses on seed, early, and later stage venture investments.

ClosedVenture Capital

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Updated: Feb 17, 2026 ·

Financial History

Total Raised

N/A

Valuation

N/A

Investments Made

Date	Company	Round	Lead Investor(s)	Co-Investor(s)
May 1, 2024	280 Earth	$50.0M Series B	—	Prefix Capital, Steve Chen
Nov 1, 2022	Hedgehog	$4.0M Seed	—	Engineering Capital, NEVA SGR, Pear VC, UpHonest Capital, Zeev Capital
Mar 1, 2019	Polarr	$12.0M Series A	—	AngelPad, Human Augmentation Syndicate, Pear VC, Rembrandt Venture Partners
Jan 1, 2019	Intello	$3.0M Seed	—	Andreessen Horowitz, Animo Ventures, Bonfire Ventures, Broadway Angels, Crosscut Ventures, DFJ, DN Capital, DNX Ventures, Felicis Ventures, FJ Labs, Great Oaks Venture Capital, Harrison Metal, Heavybit, H.I.G. Capital, IVP, Owl Rock Capital Partners, Pareto Holdings, Sapphire Ventures, Scale Venture Partners, Sequoia Capital, Summit Partners, Techstars, Threshold Ventures, Top Tier Capital Partners, Adam Wiggins, Alex Stamos, Andy Rankin, Ben Lang, Chris Smoak, Eric Ries, Gerhard Eschelbeck, Hiten Shah, Kathryn Minshew, Kim Perell, Lisa Gansky, Matt Coffin, Rashaun Williams
Jun 1, 2018	Celo	$7.0M Venture Round	—	2xN, Accomplice VC, Andreessen Horowitz, Angel investor, Archetype, BDC Venture Capital, Broadway Angels, Catalio Capital, Digital Currency Group, Electric Capital, Greylock, Joe Kraus, Hack VC, Haun Ventures, Highbury Group, IrishAngels, Klossy, Lakestar, Motivate Ventures, NFX, Olima Ventures, One Planet Group, Paradigm, Polychain Capital, Presence Capital, Real Ventures, Scalar Capital, Sequoia Capital, Seven Seven Six, Stellar Capital, The Hit Forge, Todd and Rahul's Angel Fund, Ulu Ventures, What If Ventures, WndrCo LLC, Andrew Keys, Erik Voorhees, Greg Kidd, Ian McNish, Larry Braitman, Lawrence Braitman, Michael Moritz, Mike Krieger
Oct 1, 2015	Honestbee	$15.0M Series A	—	Kevin Hartz, ACME Capital, Bling Capital, Caffeinated Capital, Catapult Capital, CMCC Global, Coatue, Cota Capital, Craft Ventures, CrunchFund, Felicis Ventures, General Atlantic, Haystack, Khosla Ventures, Lakestar, LAUNCH, Glenn Solomon, Nova Founders Capital, Offline Ventures, Possible Ventures, Prefix Capital, Saga, SciFi VC, Seven Seven Six, The Hit Forge, Thrive Capital, Tribe Capital, True Ventures, Venture51, Y Combinator, Aaron Levie, Andy Rankin, Charlie Cheever, Don Hutchison, Jeff Seibert, Jeremy Stoppelman, Joe Greenstein, Karim Elsahy, Louis Beryl, Mark Pincus, Nicolas Berggruen, Oliver Thylmann, Sam Altman, Wayne Chang
Dec 1, 2014	Change.org	$25.0M Series C	—	500 Global, Accel, ACME Capital, Aleph VC, AME Cloud Ventures, Battery Ventures, B Capital Group, Bedrock Capital, Bling Capital, Boldstart Ventures, Bond, Canaan Partners, Catapult Capital, Citi Ventures, Cometa, David Namdar, Cowboy Ventures, Craft Ventures, Draper Associates, Drive Capital, Endeavor Catalyst, Flex Capital, Forerunner Ventures, Founder Collective, Fuel Capital, GAIN, General Catalyst, Glencrest Group, Goat Capital, Grand Ventures, Greylock, M.G. Siegler, Hardware Club, HighScale Ventures, Hillsven, Human Augmentation Syndicate, Hyde Park Venture Partners, IDG Ventures, Index Ventures, IVP, Khosla Ventures, Kleiner Perkins, Ligature, Liquid 2 Ventures, Morado Venture Partners, Mousse Partners, Moxxie Ventures, NEO, Next Play Ventures, NFX, Nordic Eye, Norwest Venture Partners, OS Fund, OurCrowd, Paladin Capital Group, Prefix Capital, Quiet Capital, Rainfall Ventures, Recursive Ventures, Revolution Growth, Richmond Global Ventures, Alexander Rosen, SciFi VC, Sequoia Capital, Seven Seven Six, SignalFire, Slow Ventures, Sound Ventures, The Hit Forge, Thomvest Ventures, Tribeca Venture Partners, Tuesday Capital, UpWest, Vayner RSE, Webb Investment Network, WGI Group, Y Combinator, Adrian Aoun, Baron Davis, Bart Swanson, Cameron Lester, Clark Landry, Curtis Lee, Farzad Nazem, Hadi Partovi, Kevin Colas, Marc Benioff, Marissa Mayer, MG Siegler, Michael Birch, Oliver Jung, Oliver Thylmann, Pete Cashmore, Scott Banister, Shervin Pishevar, Steve Schoettler, Troy Carter, Vishal Makhijani
Jul 1, 2014	Opendoor Technologies	$10.0M Series A	—	2150, 8-Bit Capital, 9Yards Capital, Kevin Hartz, A* Capital (A Star Capital), Accel, ACME Capital, Acrew Capital, Active Capital, Adverb Ventures, AirAngels, Alpha Prime Fund, Alt Capital, Amasia, Ambridge Capital, AME Cloud Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, Angelic Ventures, Angular Ventures, Ascension Ventures, Asylum Ventures, Atomic, Audrey Capital, Battery Ventures, Benchstrength, Betaworks Ventures, Bling Capital, Blitzscaling Ventures, Boldstart Ventures, Bond, BoxGroup, Breakpoint Capital, Broadway Angels, C2 Investment, Caffeinated Capital, Calibrate Ventures, CapitalG, Catapult Capital, Cavalry Ventures, Coatue, Cota Capital, Craft Ventures, CrunchFund, Daffy, Dragoneer Investment Group, Draper Associates, Drive Capital, Earth and beyond ventures, Jenny Fielding, Scott Hartley, Felicis Ventures, FJ Labs, Flex Capital, Forerunner Ventures, Gideon Yu, Founders Fund, FPV Fund, General Atlantic, General Catalyst, Giant Ventures, Glencrest Group, Great Oaks Venture Capital, Greylock, GSV Acceleration, Dave Munichiello, M.G. Siegler, Hardware Club, Haystack, Heretic Ventures, Highbury Group, Human Augmentation Syndicate, Humbition, Hyde Park Venture Partners, Idealab, IDG Ventures, Incite Ventures, IVP, K5 Ventures, Khosla Ventures, Kleiner Perkins, Lakestar, Lazerow Ventures, LOI Venture, Moment Ventures, Moonshots Capital, Moxxie Ventures, Next Play Ventures, Nordic Eye, Glenn Solomon, Oak HC/FT, Obvious Ventures, Offline Ventures, Otherwise Fund, Pareto Holdings, Pear VC, Polychain Capital, Precursor Ventures, Pro Founders Capital, Quiet Capital, Race Capital, Rainfall Ventures, Redpoint Ventures, Renegade Partners, Alexander Rosen, rocketship.vc, R-Squared Ventures, Saga, Sandwith Ventures, SciFi VC, Sequoia Capital, Seven Seven Six, Sherpalo Ventures, Sinai Ventures, Slow Ventures, Sound Ventures, South Park Commons, Spark Capital, Streamlined Ventures, SV Angel, Ten Eleven Ventures, The Hit Forge, Threshold Ventures, Thrive Capital, Tiger Global Management, Torch Capital, Transformation Capital, Tribe Capital, Trucks Venture Capital, True Ventures, Uncork Capital, Webb Investment Network, Y Combinator, Aaron Harris, Aaron Levie, Aaron Patzer, Akshay Kothari, Alex Kayyal, Andy Rankin, Anil Sethi, Aston Motes, Badr Al-Rumaih, Ben Lin, Ben Porterfield, Biz Stone, Bobby Lo, Bradley Horowitz, Charlie Cheever, Clara Shih, Dan Martell, Dharmesh Shah, Doug Sleeter, Drew Houston, Dustin Moskovitz, Dylan Field, Ed Baker, Eduardo Haber, Eoghan McCabe, Eric Ries, Frederic Kerrest, Greg Kidd, Haroon Mokhtarzada, Harris Barton, Hiten Shah, Jared Leto, Jeff Bezos, Jeff Seibert, Jeremy Stoppelman, Joe Greenstein, John Collison, Joseph Perla, Josh Silverman, Justin Rosenstein, Kris Duggan, Larry Augustin, Larry Braitman, Lawrence Braitman, Louis Beryl, Marc Benioff, Marco Zappacosta, Maria Thomas, Mark Pincus, Martin Ott, Matt Mazzeo, Matt Mickiewicz, Megan Quinn, MG Siegler, Oliver Jung, Oliver Thylmann, Pete Cashmore, Phil Libin, Pierre Valade, Richard Branson, Rob Solomon, Roger Ehrenberg, Saad AlSogair, Sam Altman, Sam Hickmann, Seth Sternberg, Steve Brown, Steve Schoettler, Stewart Butterfield, Thibaud Elziere, Tien Tzuo, Tobias Lutke, Troy Carter, Wayne Chang
Jan 1, 2014	Amitree	$3.0M Seed	—	75 & Sunny, Accel, Acequia Capital, ACME Capital, Adverb Ventures, AME Cloud Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, Atlantic Bridge, Balderton Capital, Bling Capital, Cipio Partners, Citi Ventures, Coatue, Coelius Capital, Colle Capital, Cortical Ventures, Cota Capital, CSC Venture Capital, Dawn Capital, Zachary Bogue, Dell Technologies Capital, Kevin Ding, First Round Capital, Founders Co-op, Gigascale Capital, Goat Capital, Hardware Club, Homebrew, Ignition Partners, Iterative, Khosla Ventures, Kima Ventures, Kitchen Table Partners, LocalGlobe, MMC Ventures, Morado Venture Partners, Norwest Venture Partners, Glenn Solomon, Plug & Play Ventures, Prefix Capital, Prelude Ventures, Samsung NEXT Ventures, Sapphire Ventures, Sequoia Capital, Seven Seven Six, SLVC, SV Angel, Target Global, Think + Ventures, ThirdLove, Thomvest Ventures, Tribe Capital, True Ventures, Y Combinator, Adam D'Angelo, Adam Schwartz, Andy Rankin, Anshu Sharma, Anthony Soohoo, Biz Stone, Dennis Crowley, Don Hutchison, Erik Blachford, Esther Dyson, Jim Pitkow, Joshua Schachter, Marc Benioff, Marc McCabe, Marissa Mayer, Megan Quinn, Mike Slade, Richard Branson, Rudy Gadre, Shervin Pishevar
Sep 1, 2013	Sparks	$2.0M Seed	—	3TS Capital Partners, 9Yards Capital, Kevin Hartz, Accel, Acequia Capital, Acrew Capital, Adverb Ventures, AME Cloud Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, Archimedes Accelerator LLC, Audrey Capital, Baseline Ventures, Benchmark, Benchstrength, Bessemer Venture Partners, Blitzscaling Ventures, Bond, Broadway Angels, C2 Investment, CapitalG, Coatue, Cota Capital, Craft Ventures, Daffy, Dragoneer Investment Group, Flex Capital, Flucas Ventures, Founders Fund, FPV Fund, General Catalyst, Greylock, Hardware Club, Hashed, Helpful Capital, Heretic Ventures, Incite Ventures, LOI Venture, Lowercarbon Capital, Norwest Venture Partners, Offline Ventures, Pear VC, Quiet Capital, Redpoint Ventures, SciFi VC, Sequoia Capital, Seven Seven Six, Sherpalo Ventures, Sound Ventures, South Park Commons, Streamlined Ventures, SV Angel, Todd and Rahul's Angel Fund, Tribe Capital, Trucks Venture Capital, Y Combinator, Aaron Levie, Aaron Patzer, Adam D'Angelo, Adrian Aoun, Aston Motes, Charlie Cheever, Charlie Songhurst, Clara Shih, Dharmesh Shah, Doug Sleeter, Drew Houston, Eric Ries, Greg Kidd, Hiten Shah, Jared Leto, Jeff Seibert, Jeremy Stoppelman, Josh Silverman, Justin Rosenstein, Kris Duggan, Larry Augustin, Louis Beryl, Marco Zappacosta, Matt Mickiewicz, Michael Abramson, Phil Libin, Sam Altman, Seth Sternberg, Tien Tzuo, Tobias Lutke, Wayne Chang
Jan 1, 2011	Block	$28.0M Series B	—	Bain Capital Ventures, Bling Capital, Khosla Ventures, Sequoia Capital, Summit Partners, The Hit Forge, Jawed Karim, Shervin Pishevar
Mar 1, 2010	Hunch	$12.0M Series B	—	Andreessen Horowitz, Bessemer Venture Partners, General Catalyst, Nokia Growth Partners, Shasta Ventures, SV Angel, Uprising, Webb Investment Network
Oct 1, 2009	Block	$10.0M Series A	—	01 Advisors, Acequia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Benchmark, Betaworks Ventures, Bling Capital, Bond, Buckley Ventures, CRV, DCVC (Data Collective), DFJ, DST Global, Felicis Ventures, First Round Capital, Floodgate, Fuel Capital, Goat Capital, Insight Partners, IVP, Khosla Ventures, Kleiner Perkins, Lowercarbon Capital, Morado Venture Partners, PivotNorth Capital, Practical Venture Capital, Samsung NEXT Ventures, Science, Shasta Ventures, Sherpalo Ventures, SLVC, Sound Ventures, Spark Capital, Summit Partners, Sutter Hill Ventures, SV Angel, TCV, The Hit Forge, True Ventures, Uncork Capital, Union Square Ventures, Uprising, Steve Krausz, Y Combinator, Yes VC, Bob Pasker, Elon Musk, Esther Dyson, Joi Ito, Joshua Schachter, Mark Goines, Shervin Pishevar, Steve Olechowski, Sunil Paul, Tim Ferriss, Vishal Makhijani
Mar 1, 2009	Cloudera	$5.0M Series A	—	Accel, End Partners, Kamran Ansari, Ignition Partners, NewView Capital, Next Play Ventures, NFX, Norwest Venture Partners, Revolution, Uncork Capital, Y Combinator, Yes VC, Daniel Rosensweig, Raymond Stern, Zachary Kaplan
Mar 1, 2009	Luminate	$6.0M Series A	—	Andreessen Horowitz, Khosla Ventures, Race Capital, SV Angel, Uprising, Webb Investment Network, Bill Campbell, Jarl Mohn
May 1, 2007	Vobile	$7.0M Series A	—	—

Financial History

Total Raised

N/A

Valuation

N/A

Leadership Team

Key people at Formation 8.

Leadership Team

Key people at Formation 8.

Deep Dive

High-Level Overview

Formation 8 was a California-based venture capital firm focused on seed, early, and later-stage investments in technology companies. Its mission was to support entrepreneurs aiming to transform global industries through technological innovation. The firm invested across sectors including enterprise software (SaaS), marketing technology, fintech, retail tech, and food and beverage. Formation 8 played a significant role in the startup ecosystem by backing high-growth companies such as Oculus (acquired by Facebook), RelateIQ (acquired by Salesforce), and Oscar Health, helping to accelerate innovation and market leadership in their respective fields[1][2][3][4].

Origin Story

Formation 8 was founded in 2011 by Joe Lonsdale, Brian Koo, and Jim Kim, all experienced investors and entrepreneurs. The founding partners were later joined by notable figures such as James Zhang from Softbank China Venture Capital and Tom Baruch, founder of CMEA Capital. The firm quickly gained prominence, closing its first fund at $448 million in 2013 and a second fund of $500 million in 2014. Despite its early success and a stellar internal rate of return (IRR) of 95%, Formation 8 disbanded in 2015 due to differing investment strategies among partners and some reported internal conflicts, marking the end of its active investing operations[1][2][5][6].

Core Differentiators

Unique Investment Model: Formation 8 combined Silicon Valley venture capital expertise with strong ties to Asian markets, particularly South Korea and China, leveraging a global network to source and support startups.
Network Strength: The firm’s partners and advisors included influential industry veterans and executives, enhancing deal flow and strategic support.
Track Record: Formation 8 achieved notable exits with companies like Oculus and RelateIQ, delivering exceptional returns and industry recognition.
Operating Support: Beyond capital, the firm provided hands-on operational guidance to portfolio companies, helping them scale efficiently and access international markets[1][2][3].

Role in the Broader Tech Landscape

Formation 8 capitalized on the rising trend of global technology innovation and cross-border investment flows, especially between the U.S. and Asia. The timing was crucial as the early 2010s saw rapid growth in enterprise software, mobile technologies, and health tech, sectors where Formation 8 focused. By bridging Silicon Valley innovation with Asian market opportunities, the firm influenced the broader ecosystem by accelerating the globalization of startups and fostering technology transfer across continents. Its investments helped shape emerging markets and contributed to the rise of unicorn startups in multiple sectors[1][2][3].

Quick Take & Future Outlook

Although Formation 8 ceased raising new funds after 2015, its legacy persists through the successful companies it backed and the global investment model it pioneered. The founding partners have since pursued separate ventures, continuing to influence the tech and investment landscape individually. Future trends shaping this space include deeper integration of AI, enterprise digital transformation, and energy technology—areas aligned with Formation 8’s original focus. The firm’s approach to combining cross-border networks and sector expertise remains a relevant blueprint for venture capital in a globalized economy[1][2][3][5].

Sources

High-Level Overview

Origin Story

Core Differentiators

Unique Investment Model: Formation 8 combined Silicon Valley venture capital expertise with strong ties to Asian markets, particularly South Korea and China, leveraging a global network to source and support startups.
Network Strength: The firm’s partners and advisors included influential industry veterans and executives, enhancing deal flow and strategic support.
Track Record: Formation 8 achieved notable exits with companies like Oculus and RelateIQ, delivering exceptional returns and industry recognition.
Operating Support: Beyond capital, the firm provided hands-on operational guidance to portfolio companies, helping them scale efficiently and access international markets[1][2][3].