Venture Capital · Profile from Venture Capital Research Companion
8VC
Joe Lonsdale's Austin-based firm — the successor to Formation 8 — that turns the Palantir alumni network into a deal-flow and company-building machine, investing across logistics, health care, fintech, bio and, most visibly, defence and the "American industrial base", with flagship funds that grew from ~$300m (2016) to ~$880m (2023).
At a glance
- Founded
- 2015 (as a successor to Formation 8, founded 2011 by Joe Lonsdale, Brian Koo and Jim Kim); first 8VC flagship fund closed March 2016
- Founders
- Joe Lonsdale (founding GP; co-founder of Palantir, Addepar and OpenGov), with a founding team drawn from Formation 8 (including Jake Medwell and Alex Kolicich, reported)
- Headquarters
- Austin, Texas (moved from San Francisco in 2020); offices also in San Francisco/Bay Area (verify)
- Ownership / structure
- Private partnership controlled by Lonsdale (he was the sole GP named on the 2020 Form D, reported); flagship funds plus SPVs and company-building ("8VC Build")
- Leadership (2026)
- Joe Lonsdale (managing partner); partners reported to include Jake Medwell, Alex Kolicich and Francisco Gimenez (biotech) — verify the current roster
- AUM / capital raised
- "Over $6bn" committed capital per Lonsdale (2023); flagship funds ~$300m (2016) → ~$640m (2018 and 2021, reported) → ~$880m (2023); ~$1bn fund sought in 2025 filings (close: verify)
- Stage focus
- Seed through growth ("every stage"), with heavier emphasis on seed and Series A leads and incubation; frequent follow-on via SPVs
- Signature investments
- Formation 8 era: Oculus, Oscar Health, RelateIQ, Wish, Yello Mobile, Color. 8VC: Anduril, Blend, Hims & Hers, Flexport, Asana, Guardant Health, Mammoth Biosciences, The Boring Company, Saronic. Disappointments: Wish (post-IPO collapse), Blend (post-IPO collapse)
8 deals and moves analysed
Each one gets a full strategy file in the companion: context, the decision, the financing, what happened, and the lesson.
2013
Oculus
Series A
2013
Oscar Health
Early Venture Rounds
2013
RelateIQ
Growth Round
2014
Blend
Early Venture
2014
Wish
Series D
2017
Anduril
Seed / Early Rounds
2017
Hims and Hers
Early Venture
2022
Saronic
Seed