As the tech industry grows optimistic over thawing prospects for startup exits, one venture firm appears to be building a war chest of dry powder.
San Francisco-based Quiet Capital has raised $377 million toward a third fund, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission last week. Quiet Capital’s founder, Lee Linden, did not respond to respond to a request for comment, nor did a phone number listed on the filing.
While, true to its name, Quiet Capital has maintained a low profile, the firm has been an active early-stage tech backer since its founding in 2017, including early investments in companies such as the HR platform Rippling and the celebrity learning platform MasterClass.
Linden is a former associate at venture giant Kleiner Perkins as well as the founder of Karma, a gift-giving application acquired by Facebook in 2012. He worked as the social media platform’s head of commerce. Quiet Capital invests across a variety of sectors, including AI, crypto, and healthcare.
Venture rebound
After a record-setting 2021, fundraising for global venture firms has steadily ticked downward over the past few years, with 2024 set to be one of the sector’s worst years in a decade. Profits have also sunk, with venture firms last year returning their lowest amount to investors since 2011, according to the data provider PitchBook.
Still, there have been glimmers of hope, including an array of crypto firms such as Accolade and Hack VC raising new funds, as well as the still booming field of AI, which has attracted billions of VC dollars.
Quiet Capital’s new raise would represent one of the largest of the year for early-stage funds, along with Forerunner Ventures’ announcement earlier this month of a $500 million fund.
According to the SEC filing, Quiet Capital has so far raised $377,992,500 toward the fund—titled Quiet Venture III—and began raising in November 2022. It could not be learned whether Quiet Capital is continuing to raise capital for the vehicle.
The Linden-led firm raised its previous fund in 2021, with an SEC filing listing nearly $479 million raised toward a $500 million cap.
Last week, Quiet Capital led a $12 million seed round for Mach9, an AI-powered map-making software company. Other recent investments included Standard Bots, a robotics automation firm, as well as the Bot Company, a different robotics startup founded by Kyle Vogt, the former CEO of Cruise.