137 Ventures Raises $137 Million for Fund II

SAN FRANCISCO, CA--(Marketwired - Jul 9, 2014) - 137 Ventures, which provides structured liquidity products to founders and employees, just closed an oversubscribed second institutional fund totaling $137 million, making it the firm's largest yet. Founded in 2010, the firm now has over $250 million under management and has achieved several significant exits including the IPOs of SolarCity (SCTY) and 2U (TWOU), in addition to the acquisition of Tumblr by Yahoo! (YHOO) for $1.1 billion. Fund II also adds seasoned industry insiders Alda Leu Dennis as investment partner and Andrew Hansen as chief financial officer.

137 Ventures will continue to pursue investments in fast growing, late-stage technology companies, capitalizing on its ability to offer alternative forms of liquidity including loans against private company stock. "We believe in building long-term relationships with founders and companies to support them as they scale," said Justin Fishner-Wolfson, co-founder and managing partner. "As companies stay private for extended periods of time, our model offers a unique solution to the growing tension between startups and their founders and employees during the growth phase of a company's life cycle."

The firm's portfolio has a number of high performing companies including Palantir, Apptio and Jumio, which spans a wide spectrum from big data to financial services. "In less than four years of operation, 137 Ventures has achieved multiple liquidity events, and our proven investment strategy is seeing more demand than ever," said Fishner-Wolfson. "We focus on making the process easy and partnering with companies so they can stay focused on operating their business."

New partner, Alda Leu Dennis, brings her extensive operating, venture and legal experience to 137 Ventures. Dennis previously founded education company Sproutkin and also serves as the managing director of the TechFellow Fund, which provides grants to entrepreneurs to make investments in startups. Andrew Hansen assumes the chief financial officer role at 137 Ventures after serving as controller at Founders Fund.

About 137 Ventures
137 Ventures empowers founders and employees to maximize the value they create through unique, alternative forms of liquidity including loans against private company stock. With more than $250 million under management, the firm's innovative model often enables entrepreneurs to reinvest in the Silicon Valley ecosystem. The firm focuses on a broad range of areas including space exploration, digital health, fintech, enterprise SaaS and big data. 137 Ventures was founded in 2010 by Justin Fishner-Wolfson, S. Alexander Jacobson and Kathy H. Chan and is headquartered in San Francisco, Calif. For more information, visit www.137ventures.com.