XYZ Raises $80 Million For Fund II

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 23, 2020
  • XYZ Venture Capital has announced it raised $80 million in capital commitments for Fund II. These are the details.

XYZ Venture Capital has announced it raised $80 million in capital commitments for Fund II. Fund II is going to build on the successful Fund I, which made early investments in companies that are now worth over $6 billion in aggregate value.

And XYZ’s new fund is going to accelerate the growth and execution of early-stage companies. And the $80 million fund will back talented founders in the firm’s core areas of focus, consisting of fintech infrastructure, enterprise collaboration, and tech-forgotten industries like insurance and the public sector.

XYZ was originally founded by Ross Fubini (formerly of Kapor Capital, Canaan Partners, and Village Global) — who is known for his ability to make connections that change industries. And he introduced Palantir’s first business hire to its earliest engineer (now COO and CTO, respectively). 

The long and successful relationships formed over the last decade — during which Fubini has served as an advisor and executive coach to leaders within Palantir — influence XYZ’s portfolio today. And to date, XYZ has backed 22 companies associated with the Palantir network, including Anduril, Mosaic, and Saltbox.

And providing the right founders the insight, connections, and capital to build their companies as fast as humanly possible, XYZ helps carve out new spaces. This is especially important as fintech and enterprise startups gain energy and attract increasing attention, creating more competitive landscapes.

XYZ’s team of investors has deep domain expertise in these sectors, having tracked and assisted companies in scaling from a few engineers to multibillion-dollar businesses. And they become an extension of early-stage teams to help founders adeptly overcome the significant learning curve between formation and Series A.

Fubini — whose great grandfather Guido Fubini worked with Albert Einstein — named the firm in a nod to the math that drives technology, especially for concepts like position, velocity, and acceleration. And the firm’s view is that building a business is equally complex with a number of variables working in relation. XYZ specializes in helping portfolio companies determine what to build and with whom, ascertain who the initial customers are and why, and connect with the best people to raise subsequent funding to go faster.

Fund I backed early-stage companies that are already worth more than $6 billion in aggregate value. The company’s current portfolio companies, including Anduril, Mosaic, Newfront Insurance, Nova Credit, Stir and Very Good Security, are defining the future and creating products that many people use.

Operating with a presence on both the east and west coast, the XYZ team includes Fubini and partner Chauncey Hamilton — whom he actively recruited from First Round Capital. And Fubini and Hamilton also added talented analysts JeanClaude Dorsainvil and Mariana “Mars” Garza, each of whom has strong venture experience to embed themselves with portfolio companies so that Fubini and Hamilton can focus on investing in enduring companies and startup execution.

KEY QUOTES:

“Early-stage companies and entrepreneurs have a unique set of needs as they try to get their arms around how to take an idea and turn it into a functional, thriving business. This is where my passion lies, and I’ve put together the ideal team who understands that the trajectory to startup success is not all up and to the right. We will be our portfolio companies’ strongest advocates and fiercest supporters, working to accelerate their growth but also guiding them through the inevitable bumps in the road.”

— Ross Fubini

“I’ve worked closely with Ross for over ten years since my early Palantir days. He has strong relationships with the key players in the industry and enthusiastically makes pivotal introductions to drive a business forward. Now he’s surrounded himself with an incredibly gifted team at XYZ that adds another dimension to helping startups succeed.”

— Brian Schimpf, co-founder and CEO of Anduril

“Throughout my years at First Round, I got to know the best investors in the Valley. And if you ask entrepreneurs who made the biggest difference in their growth trajectories, the consistent answer is always Ross, which is no surprise to anyone who knows him. The opportunity to build a new kind of firm with him and add substantial value as an investor was too good to pass up. Together, with JeanClaude and Mars, we can guide entrepreneurs to accomplish great things and make a meaningful impact on their respective industries.”

— Partner Chauncey Hamilton