- Palo Alto-based seed-stage investment firm Pear has closed $160 million in capital commitments for its third fund
Palo Alto-based seed-stage investment firm Pear has closed $160 million in capital commitments for its third fund. Several investors including previous backer the University of Chicago provided the investment, according to TechCrunch. This is more than twice the $75 million that Pear raised for its second fund in 2016 and triple the $50 million that it raised for its debut fund in 2013.
Over the past 6 years, Pear has seen 1 IPO exit (Guardant Health) and its portfolio companies have seen a total valuation of $29 billion and $5 billion in capital raised. Pear’s co-founders Mar Hershenson and Pejman Nozad have known each other for about 20 years. Prior to launching the venture firm, Nozad sold rugs to tech entrepreneurs. And one of their early bets was with smartphone company Danger (acquired by Microsoft for $500 million). Danger was founded by Hershenson’s husband.
Hershenson also founded several companies and Nozad was one of her backers in Sabio Labs (acquired by Magma Design Automation). Hershenson told TechCrunch that the goal with this fund will continue to be a partner for the entrepreneur from “ground zero.”
“We spend a lot of time with founders and a lot of it comes down to their commitment, how mission driven they are, and their ability to attract talent. You want a captain of the ship, someone who leaves last and who wants to build a product for many people,” said Hershenson via TechCrunch.
In order to meet founders, Pear has hosted about 100 events including workshops, bootcamps, pitch nights, demo days, and hackathons.
Pear’s partners include Wedding Partner (acquired by Instacart) founder Ajay Kamat, Ian Taylor (supports student founders), and Pano Logic and MobileSpan (acquired by Dropbox) founder Nils Bunger.
