Sapphire Ventures

Sapphire Ventures, LLC is a Silicon Valley-based venture capital company that invests in growth-stage technology companies, early-stage venture funds globally.[1]

Sapphire Ventures, LLC
IndustryVenture capital
Founded1996
HeadquartersPalo Alto, California, U.S.
Key people
Nino Marakovic (CEO and managing director)
Elizabeth "Beezer" Clarkson (managing director)
Jai Das (president & managing director)
David Hartwig (managing director)
Doug Higgins (managing director)
Andreas Weiskam (managing director)
Rami Branitzky (managing director)
Steve Abbott (managing director)
Total assets$4 billion
Website

Company

Originally started in 1996 as the venture capital arm of SAP SE, it was known as SAP Ventures.[2][3][4] It split from its parent in 2011 and was rebranded to Sapphire Ventures in 2014.[5] SAP SE is now a limited partner in the company, and their ties are used in investing in companies working in the Enterprise Software ecosystem.[6] As of December 2019, the company manages approximately US$4 billion assets,[7] and is active in the United States, Europe, Israel and India.[6]

In March 2019, the company announced SV Explorer, a free online platform to connect corporate IT executives with emerging technology vendors in the startup ecosystem.

On January 28, 2019, the company announced the launch of Sapphire Sport, a $115 million investment vehicle focused on early-stage technology companies at the intersection of sport, media and entertainment.[8] Investors in Sapphire Sport include: City Football Group, AEG, Adidas AG, Major League Baseball, the San Jose Sharks, Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc., and others.

On March 24, 2015, the company, along with technology companies Cisco Systems, Inc. and Siemens, co-hosted the first industry summit on the Internet of Things, named "IoT: Empowering The Enterprise" in San Jose, California.[9][10] The event was advertised as "connecting investors, startups, technologists and Fortune 1000 executives to explore IoT in the enterprise."

Investments

Since 1996, Sapphire Ventures has invested in more than 130 companies across 10 countries. By September 2018, the company participated in a $45 million venture capital investment in supply chain technology company project44.[11] There was another private fundraising round announced for project44 in late 2020.[12]

Recognition

In an independent study released on July 29, 2015, CB Insights, recognized Sapphire Ventures as Top 5 VC based on participation in major tech exits. Specifically, the CB Insights Report compiled a list of VCs with at least five of the top 100 exits in the period beginning Q1 2013 and ending Q2 2015, and ranked each VC according to how many of these exits they were involved in. Sapphire Ventures made the list at #4, with 10 such exits to its credit, behind Accel Partners, New Enterprise Associates and Sequoia Capital.[13]

References
  1. Sapphire Ventures website - https://sapphireventures.com/
  2. "SAP Ventures raises $650M in new global VC fund - VCCircle". vccircle.com.
  3. "VC Funding Drops in Q3 – Orange County Business Journal". ocbj.com.
  4. "Mobile-commerce comes of age in India". The Times of India.
  5. Gage, Deborah. "SAP Ventures Changes Name to Sapphire Ventures, Expands Focus", "The Wall Street Journal", 16 October 2014. Retrieved on 7th April 2015
  6. Sapphire Ventures article in CrunchBase, "CrunchBase". Retrieved on 7 April 2015.
  7. "SAP spinout Sapphire Ventures raises $1.4B for new investments". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2019-12-18.
  8. "Sapphire Ventures Draws Who's Who of Sports to $115 Million Fund". www.bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2019-01-28.
  9. @SapphireVC on Twitter, "Twitter", 24 March 2015. Retrieved on 13th April 2015.
  10. Escott, Blake. Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) Planning Bigger With SAP Today, Finisar Corp. (NASDAQ:FNSR), Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR), "StreetWise Report", 24 March 2015. Retrieved on 13 April 2015
  11. Phillips, Erica E. (2018-10-01). "Project44 Gets $45 Million in Funding for Freight Tech Expansion". The Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2018-10-02.
  12. Page, Paul (2020-12-21). "Supply-Chain Technology Provider Project44 Gains $100 Million in New Backing". The Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2020-12-23.(subscription required)
  13. "Which Venture Capital Firms Are Consistently In The Largest Tech Exits?". Retrieved 2015-09-12.
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