Pear VC
{{Short description|Seed-stage venture firm}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Pear VC
| logo = Pear VC logo.svg
| image = 241 El Camino Real.jpg
| image_caption = Headquarters in Menlo Park
| former_name = Pejman Mar
| type = Private
| industry = Financial, Venture Capital, startup accelerator
| founded = {{Start date and age|2013}}
| founder = Pejman Nozad, Mar Hershenson
| hq_location = Menlo Park, California, USA
| key_people = Pejman Nozad, Mar Hershenson
| website = {{URL|https://www.pear.vc/}}
}}
Pear VC (prior name Pejman Mar) is a seed-stage venture firm based in Menlo Park, California.{{Cite web |last=Bradshaw |first=Kate |title=Venture capital firm has leased historic Oasis building |url=https://www.almanacnews.com/news/2019/08/28/venture-capital-firm-has-leased-historic-oasis-building |access-date=2022-09-10 |website=www.almanacnews.com |language=en}} It was founded by Pejman Nozad and Mar Hershenson in 2013.{{Cite web |last=Loizos |first=Connie |date=2022-05-21 |title=Pear, now nearly 10 years old and with numerous hits, looks to close its biggest fund by far |url=https://techcrunch.com/2022/05/20/pear-now-nearly-10-years-old-and-with-numerous-hits-just-closed-its-biggest-fund-by-far/ |access-date=2022-09-10 |website=TechCrunch |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |title=Pejman Mar Ventures, L.P. SEC Registration |url=https://sec.report/CIK/0001582622 |access-date=2022-09-10 |website=sec.report}} Pear VC works with early-stage companies. The company was originally based in Palo Alto, California before relocating to Menlo Park.
History
The company launched under the name Pejman Mar Ventures, in 2013.{{Cite web |last=Loizos |first=Connie |date=2016-08-16 |title=Pejman Mar rebrands as it unveils a $75 million new fund |url=https://techcrunch.com/2016/08/16/pejman-mar-rebrands-as-it-unveils-a-75-million-new-fund/ |access-date=2022-09-10 |website=TechCrunch |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Konrad |first=Alex |title=Their Venture Fund Was 'A Sign Of A Bubble.' Then They Turned $1.9 Million In DoorDash Into $440 Million |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexkonrad/2020/12/11/their-venture-fund-was-a-sign-of-a-bubble-then-they-turned-19-million-in-doordash-into-440-million/ |access-date=2022-09-10 |website=Forbes |language=en}} Pear VC was founded by Pejman Nozad and Mar Hershenson, and features both a venture investing arm and an accelerator launched in 2014. By 2021, the accelerator had overseen 80 companies through the program.{{Cite web |last=Cai |first=Kenrick |title=Inside Pear VC's Tiny Startup Accelerator That's Creating An Alternative To Y Combinator |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/kenrickcai/2021/11/09/inside-pear-vc-accelerator/ |access-date=2023-06-19 |website=Forbes |language=en}}
Prior to founding the company, Hershenson had founded software companies Barcelona Design, Sabio Labs, and Revel Touch.{{Cite web |last=Rao |first=Leena |date=2012-08-21 |title=Revel Touch Raises $10M To Help Retailers Create Sleek Mobile Commerce Apps |url=https://techcrunch.com/2012/08/21/revel-touch-raises-10m-to-help-retailers-create-sleek-mobile-commerce-apps/ |access-date=2022-09-22 |website=TechCrunch |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Review |first=MIT Technology |title=Innovator Under 35: Maria Hershenson, 30 |url=http://www2.technologyreview.com/tr35/profile.aspx?TRID=262 |access-date=2022-09-22 |website=MIT Technology Review |language=en-us}} Nozad had served as a sports journalist, radio host, professional soccer player, and rug salesman before going into venture capital.{{Cite web |last=Life |first=Kayhan |date=2021-04-07 |title=From Rug Dealing to Venture Capital: Meet Silicon Valley Superstar Pejman Nozad |url=https://kayhanlife.com/people/from-rug-dealing-to-venture-capital-meet-silicon-valley-superstar-pejman-nozad/ |access-date=2022-09-22 |website=KAYHAN LIFE |language=en-US}}
In 2015, Pejman Mar sponsored a $250,000 startup competition at UC Berkeley.{{Cite web |last=Loizos |first=Connie |date=2016-04-18 |title=Meet VC Jeremy Fiance, UC Berkeley's 24-year-old superconnector |url=https://techcrunch.com/2016/04/18/meet-vc-jeremy-fiance-uc-berkeleys-24-year-old-superconnector/ |access-date=2022-09-10 |website=TechCrunch |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |date=2015-09-04 |title=How UC Berkeley plans to take on Stanford in big startup game |url=https://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/print-edition/2015/09/04/stanford-uc-berkeley-startup-entrepreneur-business.html |access-date=2022-09-10 |website=bizjournals.com}} Over time, the company has also sponsored fellowship and entrepreneurship programs under the name “Pear Dorm” at other educational institutions such as Stanford University, Harvard University, and MIT.{{Cite web |date=2021-07-27 |title=Free Money for Student Tech Founders - David Teten |url=https://teten.com/free-money-for-student-tech-founders/ |access-date=2022-09-10 |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=ParlayMe |date=2021-04-27 |title=After a decade of VC influence at Stanford, what's next? |url=https://www.parlayme.com/post/after-a-decade-of-vc-influence-at-stanford-what-s-next |access-date=2022-09-10 |website=ParlayMe |language=en}}
Pejman Mar rebranded as Pear VC in 2016. Pear VC was one of the companies backing DoorDash prior to its launch. Other companies Pear VC has supported include Guardant Health,{{Cite web |date=2021-12-27 |title=El fondo Pear VC elige Barcelona para expandirse en Europa |url=https://www.thenewbarcelonapost.com/el-fondo-pear-vc-elige-barcelona-para-expandirse-a-europa/ |access-date=2022-09-10 |website=The New Barcelona Post |language=es-ES}} Gusto,{{Cite web |title=Pear VC's Mar Hershenson is Doubling Down on Zero Stage Investing |url=https://500.co/theglobalvc/pear-vcs-mar-hershenson-is-doubling-down-on-zero-stage-investing/ |access-date=2022-09-10 |website=500 Global |language=en}} Polarr{{Cite web |last=Heater |first=Brian |date=2019-03-14 |title=AI photo startup Polarr raises an $11.5 million Series A |url=https://techcrunch.com/2019/03/14/ai-photo-startup-polarr-raises-an-11-5-million-series-a/ |access-date=2022-09-22 |website=TechCrunch |language=en-US}} and Branch.{{Cite web |last=Korosec |first=Kirsten |date=2022-04-25 |title=Discuss investor opportunities at TC Sessions: Mobility 2022 |url=https://techcrunch.com/2022/04/25/elemental-muirwoods-ventures-and-pear-vc-discuss-investor-opportunities-at-tc-sessions-mobility-2022/ |access-date=2022-09-10 |website=TechCrunch |language=en-US}}
For their work with Pear VC, Hershenson was ranked number 29 and Nozad was ranked 15 on Forbes’ 2021 Midas List.{{Cite web |date=2021-11-16 |title=The Midas List 2021 |url=https://www.forbes.com/midas/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211116052319/https://www.forbes.com/midas/ |archive-date=2021-11-16 |access-date=2022-09-22 |website=Forbes}} The following year, Nozad was named number 2 on Forbes’ 2022 Midas Seed List{{Cite web |title=Midas Seed 2022 |url=https://www.forbes.com/lists/midas-seed/ |access-date=2022-09-22 |website=Forbes |language=en}} and number 15 on the regular Midas List,{{Cite web |date=2022-09-19 |title=The Midas List 2022 |url=https://www.forbes.com/midas/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220919095916/https://www.forbes.com/midas/ |archive-date=2022-09-19 |access-date=2022-09-22 |website=Forbes}} while Hershenson was ranked number 30 on the Midas List.
In 2022, Matt Birnbaum, former head of talent acquisition at Instacart, joined Pear VC as its head of talent.{{Cite web |last=Loizos |first=Connie |date=2022-03-03 |title=Instacart's head of talent just left to join Pear VC; here's his take on the market |url=https://techcrunch.com/2022/03/03/instacarts-head-of-talent-just-joined-pear-vc-heres-his-take-on-the-market/ |access-date=2022-09-22 |website=TechCrunch |language=en-US}}
On the 10th of March, 2023, CNBC reported that Pear VC had urged its portfolio companies to withdraw funds from Silicon Valley Bank before SVB had collapsed.{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2023-03-10 |title=Venture capitalists urge startups to withdraw funds from crisis-laden Silicon Valley Bank |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2023/03/10/vcs-urge-startups-to-withdraw-funds-from-silicon-valley-bank.html |access-date=2023-06-19 |website=CNBC |language=en}}
Pear raised $423m for a seed venture fund in 2023, and had also invested in Guardant Health and Gusto at the two company's inceptions.{{cite web|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-05-30/doordash-backer-pear-vc-raises-432-million-for-seed-venture-fund#xj4y7vzkg|title=DoorDash-Backer Pear Raises $432 Million for Seed Venture Fund|date=2023|website=www.bloomberg.com|publisher=Bloomberg}} It targeted pre-seed and seed investments in artificial intelligence.{{cite web|title=Pear VC closes oversubscribed $432m seed fund|url=https://www.privateequitywire.co.uk/2023/05/31/320754/pear-vc-closes-oversubscribed-432m-seed-fund|work=Private Equity Wire|accessdate=2 August 2023}} It closed its largest fund at that point in May 2023, with investors in previous funds including the Inasmuch Foundation, Los Angeles Fire & Police Pension System, the Richard King Mellon Foundation, and the Passport Foundation.{{cite web|url=https://www.venturecapitaljournal.com/doordash-backer-pear-vc-closes-largest-fund-to-date/|title=DoorDash-backer Pear VC closes largest fund to date|date=2023|website=www.venturecapitaljournal.com|publisher=}}
Investment model
Pear VC mainly works with startups in their earliest stages, such as pre-seed and seed-stage companies.{{Cite web |title=Pear VC |url=https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/faculty-research/case-studies/pear-vc |access-date=2022-09-10 |website=Stanford Graduate School of Business |language=en}} Pear VC uses a two-pronged structure in which it houses both a venture investing arm and an accelerator.{{Cite web |last=Cai |first=Kenrick |title=Inside Pear VC's Tiny Startup Accelerator That's Creating An Alternative To Y Combinator |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/kenrickcai/2021/11/09/inside-pear-vc-accelerator/ |access-date=2022-09-10 |website=Forbes |language=en}}