With deep Databricks and Perplexity ties, Andy Konwinski, Pete Sonsini and Andrew Krioukov have launched a VC firm focused on research-driven, highly-technical founders.
Laude Ventures partners Pete Sonsini , Andy Krioukov and Andy Konwinski are hoping to find"10 more" $100 billion opportunities like Databricks and Perplexity . Databricks and Perplexity cofounder Andy Konwinski , early backer Pete Sonsini and Antimatter CEO Andrew Krioukov have launched Laude Ventures , a seed-stage firm focused on research-driven, highly-technical founders at their alma mater UC Berkeley and elsewhere.
“It was very honorable, not how Silicon Valley is portrayed in TV shows,” Srinivas said. “It was old school, where your word is your word.” Already backing their classmates ad hoc, Krioukov and Konwinski ran a simulation that found that if they had invested in every research-driven startup to come out of their Berkeley lab over the previous years, they would have seen a 28x return on their capital – or 9x even without Databricks. Next, they convinced 25 of their former classmates and professors in the tech industry to invest in a fund, Computer Science Graduate Ventures, focused on that thesis.
After writing eight checks into Perplexity and others, CSGV’s fund is on track to return its $4 million at least 20 times over, meaning about $80 million in paper profits. Its partners were discussing raising a second fund when the news broke that Sonsini was departing NEA as part of a leadership shuffle
At Tabsdata, cofounder and CEO Arvind Prabhakar noted that Sonsini had served as a board director at his prior startup, which he sold in 2022 to Software AG . Laude won out to lead an investment over other firms, Prabhakar said, for its combination of strategic venture experience with go-to market chops. “At this stage, you are so early in the game that you want people who are connected to the ground, able to guide you and help you,” he said.
Perplexity Andy Konwinski Pete Sonsini Andy Krioukov Laude Ventures Venture Capital Databricks Cofounder Ali Ghodsi Aravind Srinivas
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