Formation 8

The company was founded in 2011 by three partners: Jim Kim, Brian Koo and Joe Lonsdale. The team was later joined by James Zhang of Softbank China Venture Capital and BioDiscovery and Tom Baruch, founder of CMEA Capital and Director of Intermolecular. The firm added Gideon Yu, the former Facebook Chief Financial Officer who is now president of the San Francisco 49ers, as a special adviser to the firm.{{cite news|title=New VC fund Formation 8 has $450M, star partners|url=https://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/news/2013/04/12/new-vc-fund-formation8-has-450m-star.html|accessdate=November 14, 2018|newspaper=Silicon Valley Business Journal|date=April 12, 2013}}

In 2012, Formation 8 intended to close its first round fund with $200 million, but delayed until 2013 to accommodate more limited partners.{{cite news|title=Formation 8 Raises Its First Fund Of $448M To Plug Silicon Valley Startups Into Asian Conglomerates|url=https://techcrunch.com/2013/04/18/formation-8|accessdate=November 14, 2018|work=TechCrunch|date=April 18, 2013}} In April 2013, it closed its first round fund with $448 million.{{Cite web|url=https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1543731/000154373112000002/xslFormDX01/primary_doc.xml|title=SEC Form D |website=SEC|language=en|access-date=November 14, 2018}} It recorded a net internal rate of return (IRR) of 95%, easily making it one of the best performing funds in the industry. Its notable hits included Oculus, acquired by Facebook for $2 billion, and RelateIQ, the startup bought by Salesforce.com for $390 million.{{cn|date=December 2021}}

In 2013, Fortune Magazine described the firm as "the hottest venture capital since Andreessen."{{cite news|title=The hottest VCs since Andreessen|url=https://money.cnn.com/2013/04/11/technology/formation-8-vc.pr.fortune/index.html|accessdate=November 14, 2018|publisher=CNN|date=April 11, 2013}}

In December 2014, it closed a second fund of $500 million, and added some billion dollar unicorn startups to it portfolio, including Illumio and South Korean mobile company Yello Mobile.{{cite web|title=Formation 8 Closes Its $500 Million Second Fund|author=Ryan Lawler|url=https://techcrunch.com/2014/12/03/formation-8-500-million-fund/|website=TechCrunch|date=December 3, 2014}}

In November 2015, the company disbanded, and the founders went their separate ways, reportedly because the founding partners had different investment strategies and interests.{{cite web|url= http://fortune.com/2015/11/10/what-caused-formation-8-to-split-and-what-comes-next/ |title=What Caused Formation 8 To Split, and What Comes Next? |website=fortune.com |date=2015-10-11 |accessdate=2017-08-04}} Axios reported closure was due to a string of bad investments and Koo leveraging a fund without limited partner approval via a loan.{{cite web |title=Behind the failure of VC firm Formation Group |url=https://www.axios.com/2022/04/18/formation-group-vc-firm-failure |website=AXIOS |access-date=29 August 2023}}

{{columns-list|colwidth=30em|

• Aka Study
• Augury{{Cite web|url=https://en.globes.co.il/en/article-israeli-internet-of-things-co-augury-raises-7m-1001064732|title = Israeli Internet-of-Things co Augury raises $7m - Globes|date = 27 August 2015}}
• Blend Labs
• Context Relevant
• Foro Energy
• Hyperdyadic
• LearnSprout
• Oculus
• OpenGov
• RelateIQ
• Venturebeat
• Wish (ContextLogic)
• Yello Mobile

}}

{{reflist|30em}}

• {{Official website|http://www.formation8.com}}

Category:Venture capital firms of the United States

Category:2011 establishments in California

Category:Companies based in San Francisco

Category:Private equity firms of the United States

Category:Financial services companies established in 2011

Category:Financial services companies disestablished in 2015