Valar Ventures

Valar Ventures is a prominent U.S.-based venture capital firm headquartered near Madison Square in Manhattan, New York City, founded in 2010 by Co-Founders Peter Thiel (PayPal co-founder, Palantir co-founder, Founders Fund partner, prominent Silicon Valley investor and public figure), Andrew McCormack (Managing Partner; previously at PayPal from 2001 and Thiel Capital / Clarium Capital Management), and James Fitzgerald (Managing Partner; previously COO and General Counsel at Thiel Capital advising on Thiel's network of businesses and funds). The firm's namesake is the Valar of J. R. Tolkien's legendarium aEUR" the god-like immortal spirits who chose to enter the mortal world aEUR" a distinctive literary-fantasy branding choice. Valar Ventures originally spun out of Thiel Capital in 2010 as a fintech-and-software-focused venture fund specifically targeting opportunities outside Silicon Valley (particularly Europe, UK, Canada, Africa, Latin America, and New Zealand / Australia), differentiating from Thiel's more US-focused Founders Fund. The firm has raised nine flagship funds through 2024, with aggregate capital raised exceeding USD 2 billion+: Fund VII at USD 863 million+ in late 2021, Fund VIII at USD 665 million in July 2022, and Fund IX at USD 300 million in May 2024 (reflecting the tougher post-2022 fundraising environment). Typical initial check sizes are in the USD 5 to 15 million range at Series A and Series B stages. Valar's portfolio has produced 10+ unicorns, 2 IPOs, and 19+ acquisitions, with notable wins including Wise / formerly TransferWise (LON: WISE, IPO 2021 at USD 11 billion market cap aEUR" Valar's Series A investor in 2013), Xero (ASX: XRO), N26 (German neobank unicorn), Qonto (French business-banking unicorn), Bitpanda (Austrian crypto exchange, USD 4 billion valuation), Stash (USD 1.4 billion valuation), Majority (migrant digital bank), SkipTheDishes (Canadian food-delivery), BlockFi (crypto lending), Taxfix, Neo, Octane, Mondu, and Vend (acquired by Lightspeed POS for approximately USD 350 million in 2021). Peter Thiel's hands-on involvement has reduced over time, with the firm now largely run by McCormack and Fitzgerald.