Investor profile
Draper Associates
VC
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Analyse your fitInvestment thesis
Draper Associates is a global venture capital firm that backs bold, visionary founders building transformational businesses long before the rest of the world believes in them. Founded in 1985 by Tim Draper, the firm moves early—primarily from pre-seed to Series A—and is industry-agnostic and stage-agnostic, investing across sectors, geographies, and technologies. As stated on their site: "We don't just invest in companies—we invest in the future. Our job isn't to follow trends; it's to see what others don't, to make early, high-conviction bets on companies and founders that will fundamentally reshape the world." While open to all industries, Draper Associates is particularly drawn to frontier sectors: AI, Robotics & Automation; Blockchains, Crypto & Decentralization; Healthcare & Biotech 2.0; Aerospace & Space; and "The Unconventional"—ideas that seem impossible today but will define the next century. With $2.3B AUM, 400+ companies backed, and 60+ unicorns, rhinos, and hectocorns in its portfolio, the firm's track record includes early investments in Tesla, SpaceX, Coinbase, Robinhood, Baidu, Skype, Twitch, Hotmail, and DocuSign.
Notable quotes
“I think the AI boom is real. It's not like the dot-com boom where people were just throwing money at anything with a '.com' in the name. This is a fundamental shift in how we work, how we live, how we think.”
“We backed Tesla when electric vehicles were seen as niche, SpaceX when privatized space travel was unheard of, and Coinbase when crypto was dismissed as a fad. Our job isn't to follow trends; it's to see what others don't, to make early, high-conviction bets on companies and founders that will fundamentally reshape the world.”
“I think Bitcoin is going to be huge. I'm looking at it as one of the greatest investments of all time.”
Team
Maxime Bucaille
Principal
Tyrone Lee
Venture Partner
Matt Harris
Venture Partner
Recent investments
Frequent co-investors
| VC firm | Deals together |
|---|---|
| Boost VC | 8 |
| Andreessen Horowitz | 6 |
| Digital Currency Group | 5 |
| Alumni Ventures | 4 |
| Draper Round Table | 4 |
| NFX | 3 |
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