David Sacks’ Craft Ventures raises more than $1.6bn

Craft Ventures, whose co-founder on Wednesday helped launch Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’s presidential campaign, has raised more than $1.6 billion combined for three new venture funds.

The San Francisco firm raised $712 million from 166 investors for Craft Ventures IV, $749.4 million from 174 investors for Craft Ventures Growth II and $164.5 million from 14 investors for Craft Ventures Growth Feeder II, according to regulatory filings. None of the filings lists a target amount, so it is unclear if Craft is still fundraising for any or all of the funds.

Venture Capital Journal emailed firm co-founder David Sacks for comment, but did not hear back as of press time.

LPs for the new funds include the Teachers’ Retirement System of the State of Illinois, which committed $30 million each to Craft Ventures IV and Craft Ventures Growth II, according to VCJ research.

The new funds are substantially larger than their predecessor vehicles. Craft Ventures III raised $612 million and Craft Ventures Growth I raised $510 million in August 2021, VCJ research shows. LPs in those funds included the San Diego City Employees’ Retirement System, which invested $5 million in each.

Sacks co-founded Craft in 2017. He is a close friend of Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX, Tesla and Twitter, among other companies. Sacks moderated a live interview Wednesday on Twitter Spaces between Musk and DeSantis, which served as the launch of DeSantis’s run for president.

As an investor, Sacks has backed more than 20 companies that have gone on to become unicorns, including AirBnB, Bird, Eventbrite, Facebook, Houzz, Lyft, Palantir, Postmates, SpaceX, Twitter, Uber and Wish, according to his biography on Craft’s website.