TL;DR - Josh Kopelman is the founder of First Round Capital, a major seed-stage player in the venture capital industry. Also notable is the Dorm Room Fund started by First Round.
Helpfulness - 5
Tags - notable investors, seed vc
Questions addressed:
- Who is Josh Kopelman?
- What influence do Kopelman and First Round Capital have on the VC industry?
- How does the firm structure its investments?
Summary:
- Josh Kopelman is the founder of First Round Capital, widely known as the first institutional investor in Uber.
- First Round Capital is one of the most well-known VC firms that invests at the earliest possible stages (seed rounds).
- It is also the 6th-most active seed investor in the US.
- Prior to founding the firm, Kopelman was a successful entrepreneur with several exits.
- The firm also has a “Dorm Room Fund” focusing on seed funding for student founders.
- First Round reserves 75% of its capital for follow-on fundings (counterintuitively, it invests more in early stage than seed stage rounds).
- The firm is the lead investor in at least ⅔ of the seed rounds it participates in.
- Average funding size is $1.5M, but round sizes range from $500,000 to $5M.
- The firm aims to own 7.5% to 12.5% of a company after a seed round, with ownership increasing if it participates in follow-on funding.
Follow up links:
- Seed funding guide, https://blog.ycombinator.com/how-to-raise-a-seed-round/
- Dorm Room Fund, https://www.dormroomfund.com/