KKR

ActiveVenture Capital

Updated: Mar 19, 2026 ·

About

KKR functions as a premier global investment firm, offering alternative asset management, capital markets, and insurance solutions. It leverages deep sector expertise across private equity, credit, infrastructure, and real estate, applying a disciplined investment strategy to drive significant value creation within its varied portfolio.

The firm was established in 1976 by Jerome Kohlberg Jr., Henry Kravis, and George R. Roberts. Their collective experience at Bear Stearns fueled a pioneering insight into leveraged buyouts, laying the groundwork for a transformative investment model focused on acquiring and strategically enhancing businesses for sustained growth.

KKR serves a sophisticated global clientele, including institutional investors like pension and sovereign wealth funds, alongside global wealth and family capital clients. The firm actively partners with its portfolio companies, providing operational and strategic guidance. Its core vision emphasizes generating strong, sustainable returns and fostering mutual success for all stakeholders.

Financial History

Total Raised

N/A

Valuation

N/A

Investments Made

Date	Company	Round	Lead Investor(s)	Co-Investor(s)
Aug 1, 2024	Bland AI	$16.0M Series A	—	01 Advisors, Ansa Capital, Jeff Richards, Operator Partners, Pioneer Fund, PS Investments, Rock Ventures, Scale Venture Partners, SciFi VC, The Finger Group, TLV Partners, Viola Ventures, Webb Investment Network, Todd Arky, Wiley Cerilli
Dec 1, 2021	Anchorage Digital	$350.0M Series D	—	Chloe Sladden, Blockchain Capital, Delta Blockchain Fund, Electric Capital, The Hit Forge
Aug 1, 2021	Saturn Technologies	$44.0M Venture Round	—	01 Advisors, 2xN, 8VC, Kevin Hartz, Andreessen Horowitz, Ansa Capital, Climate Capital, Coatue, Comal Ventures, Contrary Capital, Craft Ventures, Electric Capital, Felix Capital, Flexcap, Footprint Coalition, General Catalyst, Goat Capital, Gumi Cryptos Capital, Haun Ventures, Incisive Ventures, Infinite Niches, Innovation Endeavors, Jetstream, Locus Ventures, LombardStreet Ventures, Long Journey Ventures, Madrona Ventures, Jeff Richards, Paradigm, Practical Venture Capital, Presight Capital, Rock Ventures, Saga, Scalar Capital, Sequoia Capital, Seven Seven Six, Sound Ventures, The Finger Group, The Hit Forge, Thirty Five Ventures, Y Combinator, Alison Engel, Andrew Steinwold, Balaji Srinivasan, Ben Silbermann, Daniel Kan, Dylan Field, Emil Michael, Fidji Simo, Gokul Rajaram, Gwyneth Paltrow, Hadi Partovi, Immad Akhund, Jeffrey Wilke, Julian Wright, Justin David Blau, Kyle Vogt, Manik Gupta, Marc Benioff, Mark Cuban, Max Mullen, Mike Vernal, Regan Bozman, Sahil Lavingia, Sam Altman, Scott Banister, Scott Belsky, Tim Ferriss, Todd Arky, Tony Xu, Wiley Cerilli
May 1, 2021	Explorium	$75.0M Series C	—	01 Advisors, Alkeon Capital, Ansa Capital, Insight Partners, Jeff Richards, Rock Ventures, The Finger Group, Zeev Capital, Todd Arky, Wiley Cerilli
May 1, 2021	Workboard	$75.0M Series D	—	01 Advisors, 20VC, AirAngels, Airtree Ventures, Amasia, Andreessen Horowitz, Ansa Capital, Awesome People Ventures, Cedar Capital Group, Costanoa Ventures, Five Sigma, Floodgate, Madrona Ventures, Next47, Notable Capital, Rock Ventures, Salesforce Ventures, Shrug Capital, Softbank Group, SoftBank Investment Advisers, Summit Partners, Systemiq Capital, The Finger Group, Tiger Global Management, Todd and Rahul's Angel Fund, Unusual Ventures, Verizon Ventures, Todd Arky, Wiley Cerilli
Feb 1, 2021	Anchorage Digital	$80.0M Series C	—	Chloe Sladden, Blockchain Capital, Delta Blockchain Fund, Electric Capital, The Hit Forge
Jul 1, 2020	Explorium	$31.0M Series B	—	01 Advisors, Alkeon Capital, Ansa Capital, Jeff Richards, Rock Ventures, The Finger Group, Zeev Capital, Todd Arky, Wiley Cerilli
May 1, 2020	slice	$43.0M Series C	—	9Yards Capital, Kevin Hartz, Accel, Addition, Adverb Ventures, Ansa Capital, Bessemer Venture Partners, ENIAC Ventures, Euclid Ventures, Golden Ventures, H.I.G. Capital, Lowercarbon Capital, Meritech Capital Partners, Notable Capital, WestWave Capital, Julia Hartz, Mark Cuban, Matt Mazzeo, Tom Williams
Jan 1, 2020	Workboard	$30.0M Series C	—	01 Advisors, 20VC, AirAngels, Airtree Ventures, Amasia, Andreessen Horowitz, Ansa Capital, Awesome People Ventures, Cedar Capital Group, Costanoa Ventures, Five Sigma, Floodgate, Madrona Ventures, Notable Capital, Rock Ventures, Salesforce Ventures, Shrug Capital, Softbank Group, SoftBank Investment Advisers, Summit Partners, The Finger Group, Tiger Global Management, Todd and Rahul's Angel Fund, Unusual Ventures, Verizon Ventures, Todd Arky, Wiley Cerilli
Jul 1, 2019	Anchorage Digital	$40.0M Series B	—	Chloe Sladden, Blockchain Capital, Delta Blockchain Fund, Electric Capital, The Hit Forge
Apr 1, 2019	Astorian	$2.0M Venture Round	—	Chloe Sladden, Blockchain Capital, Delta Blockchain Fund, Electric Capital, The Hit Forge
Mar 1, 2019	Workboard	$23.0M Series B	—	01 Advisors, Airtree Ventures, Amasia, Ansa Capital, Cedar Capital Group, Five Sigma, Floodgate, Madrona Ventures, Notable Capital, Rock Ventures, Salesforce Ventures, Softbank Group, SoftBank Investment Advisers, The Finger Group, Tiger Global Management, Verizon Ventures, Todd Arky, Wiley Cerilli
Apr 1, 2018	Vanta	$3.0M Seed	—	Adverb Ventures, Alate Partners, #ANGELS (Hashtag ANGELS), Blockchain Capital, Brewer Lane Ventures, C2 Investment, Coatue, Collaborative Seed & Growth Partners, Craft Ventures, CRV, Delta Blockchain Fund, DNX Ventures, Drummond Road Capital, eFounders, Electric Capital, Felicis Ventures, First Round Capital, Goat Capital, Goldcrest Capital, Greycroft, Highbury Group, Hoxton Ventures, Index Ventures, LGF, LombardStreet Ventures, M13, MATH Venture Partners, New Stack Ventures, Otherwise Fund, Relay Ventures, Sequoia Capital, Sherpalo Ventures, Shine Capital, Spark Capital, The Hit Forge, Third Kind Ventures, Tusk Venture Partners, Visionaire Ventures, Christian Reber, Elad Gil, Ellen Pao, Hiro Tamura, J.D. Fagan, Matt Macinnis, Mike Vernal, Ning Sung, Scott Belsky, Steve Salis, Theresa Johnson, Thibaud Elziere, Travis Vanderzanden, Accelr8, Alumni Ventures, Balaji Srinivasan, Ben Huh, Better Capital, Joi Ito, Majinx Capital, Master Ventures, Master Ventures Investment Management, Orion Willow Parrott, Shaan's All Access Fund, SRB Ventures, Trajectory Ventures, Tribe Capital
Jul 1, 2017	BentoBox	$5.0M Series A	—	01 Advisors, Ansa Capital, CRV, Equity Alliance, Flex Capital, Fortress Investment Group, NFX, Jeff Richards, Rock Ventures, The Finger Group, Gary Lauder, Todd Arky, Wiley Cerilli
Sep 1, 2016	SidelineSwap	$2.0M Seed	—	645 Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, Brand Foundry Ventures, Cantos Ventures, Credo Ventures, Matt Ocko, Equal Ventures, FJ Labs, Flex Capital, Foundamental, Founder Collective, Future Ventures, Index Ventures, Left Lane Capital, Merus Capital, Miramar Ventures, Raine Ventures, Summit Partners, Teamworthy Ventures, Esther Dyson, Mo El-Bibany, Richard Rosenblatt, Todd Arky, 01 Advisors, Ansa Capital, Jeff Richards, Rock Ventures, The Finger Group, Wiley Cerilli
Jul 1, 2015	InVision	$45.0M Series C	—	01 Advisors, Accel, Addition, Andreessen Horowitz, Ansa Capital, Benchmark, Bling Capital, FirstMark Capital, Founder Collective, Founders Fund, Khosla Ventures, Greg Papadopoulos, Jeff Richards, Rock Ventures, The Finger Group, Adam D'Angelo, Dustin Moskovitz, Sam Altman, Todd Arky, Wayne Chang, Wiley Cerilli
Mar 1, 2015	Binti	$2.0M Seed	—	01 Advisors, 10100, ACME Capital, Alsop Louie Partners, Amasia, Animoca Brands, Ansa Capital, Adeyemi Ajao, Binary Capital, Boost VC, BoxGroup, Canvas Ventures, Catapult Capital, Cherubic Ventures, Climate Capital, Comal Ventures, CRV, Draper Associates, ENIAC Ventures, Gideon Yu, Founders Fund, General Catalyst, Greylock, Human Augmentation Syndicate, LAUNCH, Lightbank, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Long Journey Ventures, Moxxie Ventures, Munich Re / HSB Ventures, NEO, Next Play Ventures, NFX, Jeff Richards, Offline Ventures, Operator Collective, Oyster Ventures, Path Ventures, Presence Capital, QueensBridge Venture Partners, Quiet Capital, Rock Ventures, Slow Ventures, Sound Ventures, Streamlined Ventures, The Finger Group, The General Partnership, Tribe Capital, True Global Ventures, Venrock, Winklevoss Capital, Alison Pincus, Anthony Saleh, Arianna Huffington, Ben Davenport, Bill Gates, Bradley Horowitz, Chris Wang, Clark Landry, Emmett Shear, Evan Williams, Hadi Partovi, Jared Kopf, Joe Greenstein, Joshua Schachter, Kevin Lin, Mark Pincus, Nicolas Berggruen, Richard Branson, Ryan Sarver, Sam Altman, Scott Banister, Scott Heiferman, Shervin Pishevar, Steve Chen, Tikhon Bernstam, Todd Arky, Tom Blomfield
Dec 1, 2013	InVision	$12.0M Series A	—	01 Advisors, Addition, Andreessen Horowitz, Ansa Capital, Benchmark, Bling Capital, FirstMark Capital, Founder Collective, Founders Fund, Khosla Ventures, Jeff Richards, Rock Ventures, The Finger Group, Adam D'Angelo, Dustin Moskovitz, Sam Altman, Todd Arky, Wayne Chang, Wiley Cerilli
Feb 1, 2012	InVision	$2.0M Seed	—	01 Advisors, Ansa Capital, FirstMark Capital, Founder Collective, Jeff Richards, RiverPark Ventures, Rock Ventures, The Finger Group, Joe Proto, Todd Arky, Wayne Chang, Wiley Cerilli

Financial History

Total Raised

N/A

Valuation

N/A

Leadership Team

Key people at KKR.

Partner, KKR & Chairman, KKR Global Institute

Leadership Team

Key people at KKR.

Partner, KKR & Chairman, KKR Global Institute

Deep Dive

KKR (Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.) is a global investment firm specializing in private equity and alternative asset management. Its mission is to generate attractive returns by leveraging deep operational expertise and strategic financial engineering to transform companies and create value. KKR invests across multiple sectors including private equity, credit, real estate, infrastructure, and growth equity, impacting the startup and broader business ecosystem by providing capital, operational support, and strategic guidance to foster growth and innovation[1][3][6][9].

Founded in 1976 by Jerome Kohlberg Jr., Henry Kravis, and George Roberts—former Bear Stearns colleagues—KKR pioneered the leveraged buyout (LBO) model, using borrowed funds to acquire undervalued or poorly managed companies and improve their performance. Early landmark deals such as the 1989 $25 billion RJR Nabisco buyout cemented its reputation as a transformative force in private equity. Over time, KKR expanded beyond traditional buyouts into credit, real estate, and infrastructure, evolving into a diversified global investment firm with a strong focus on operational value creation and sustainability[1][2][3][4][5].

Core Differentiators

Pioneering LBO Model: KKR was among the first to use leveraged buyouts extensively, shaping private equity as an asset class.
Operational Expertise: The firm combines financial engineering with hands-on operational improvements through its Capstone team and other resources.
Diversified Investment Platform: Beyond private equity, KKR invests in credit, real estate, infrastructure, and growth equity, reducing risk and capturing multiple market opportunities.
Strong Network and Global Reach: KKR leverages a broad network of investors, portfolio companies, and industry experts worldwide.
Track Record of Large-Scale Deals: Notable transactions like RJR Nabisco and TXU Energy demonstrate its ability to manage complex, high-value investments.
Commitment to ESG and Inclusion: Initiatives like the Green Portfolio Program and Inclusion & Diversity Council highlight KKR’s focus on sustainable and responsible investing[1][3][6].

Role in the Broader Tech Landscape

KKR rides the trend of increasing demand for alternative investments and operational value creation in a complex global economy. Its timing was critical in pioneering LBOs during the 1970s and 1980s when many companies were undervalued or poorly managed, allowing it to unlock significant value. Today, KKR influences the broader ecosystem by providing capital and strategic support to startups and mature companies alike, fostering innovation, scaling businesses, and promoting sustainability. Its expansion into credit, real estate, and infrastructure aligns with market forces favoring diversified, resilient investment strategies amid economic uncertainty[1][3][6].

Quick Take & Future Outlook

KKR is positioned to continue evolving as a global leader in alternative assets by deepening its operational capabilities and expanding into new asset classes and geographies. Trends such as digital transformation, ESG investing, and infrastructure development will shape its journey. The firm’s influence is likely to grow as it balances financial returns with broader social and environmental impact, maintaining its pioneering spirit while adapting to changing market dynamics[1][3][6].

KKR’s legacy as a private equity innovator and its ongoing diversification underscore its role as a cornerstone of modern alternative investing, continuing to shape industries and economies worldwide.

Sources

Core Differentiators

Pioneering LBO Model: KKR was among the first to use leveraged buyouts extensively, shaping private equity as an asset class.
Operational Expertise: The firm combines financial engineering with hands-on operational improvements through its Capstone team and other resources.
Diversified Investment Platform: Beyond private equity, KKR invests in credit, real estate, infrastructure, and growth equity, reducing risk and capturing multiple market opportunities.
Strong Network and Global Reach: KKR leverages a broad network of investors, portfolio companies, and industry experts worldwide.
Track Record of Large-Scale Deals: Notable transactions like RJR Nabisco and TXU Energy demonstrate its ability to manage complex, high-value investments.
Commitment to ESG and Inclusion: Initiatives like the Green Portfolio Program and Inclusion & Diversity Council highlight KKR’s focus on sustainable and responsible investing[1][3][6].