New venture capital firm, co-founded by seasoned investors, offers the next generation of innovators hands-on expertise and access to an unparalleled network of highly-influential business leaders
Fund includes backing from an all-star roster of tech world Luminaries as well as leading institutional investors
SAN FRANCISCO, June 12, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Kyber Knight Capital, a pioneering new venture capital firm focused on pre-seed and seed investments in early stage technology start-ups, launched today with a $120 million inaugural fund.
Co-founded by venture capital veterans and experienced founders Sunny Dhillon and Linus Liang, Kyber Knight offers a hands-on approach with founders and provides them with inside access to its exclusive network of luminary investors, including: Alphabet, Inc. Chairman John Hennessy; Bain Consulting’s global head Manny Maceda; former Dreamworks Animation President Chris DeFaria; former President and CEO of eBay and Hewlett Packard Meg Whitman; former MGM Chairman and CEO Gary Barber; previous Warner Brothers Chairman and CEO Kevin Tsujihara and former Chairman and CEO of The Walt Disney Company Michael Eisner. Additional backers include founders of some of Silicon Valley’s most transformational companies, such as Joe Gebbia of Airbnb, Michael Mente of Revolve, PayPal’s David Sacks, and Zynga’s Mark Pincus. Senior financial industry titans from KKR, Oaktree, Apollo, Goldman Sachs, and New Enterprise Associates are also part of the Kyber Knight cap table.
Kyber Knight is also supported by institutional investors including consulting behemoth McKinsey, the Smithsonian Museum Endowment and a major California pension fund, among others. Such investors add further breadth and depth to the firm’s network.
“Knowing the right people and getting in with quality customers early is essential to startup growth, especially at the pre-seed and seed stage. It can make or break a company,” said Dhillon. “Linus and I have built extensive professional networks over the course of our careers, and we created Kyber Knight to extend those advantageous connections to our portfolio companies. We bring deep sector expertise and are taking a hands-on approach to develop the right growth strategy to bring each of these game-changing companies to market fast while ensuring that they establish a robust pipeline, setting them up for long-term success.” Rounding out the investment team are David Bloom and Ary Vaidya.
The firm has already invested in 12 soon-to-launch companies at the pre-seed or seed stage and had markups from Sand Hill Road top tier funds leading follow-on financing rounds. Investments range from robotics and automation in traditional manufacturing and construction to sales enablement, e-commerce and AI technology. Kyber Knight plans to invest in approximately 40 to 50 companies with its debut fund.
“In the current economic climate, startups need the right guidance. They need someone willing to do the hard work with them, to vouch for their ideas, team and execution plans, and who will open doors and make introductions on their behalf,” said Liang. “Sunny and I are not shy. We are long-time entrepreneurs and investors ourselves, and we love nothing more than rolling up our sleeves to turn a new idea into a thriving company.”
To learn more about Kyber Knight, please visit: https://kyberknight.com/
ABOUT KYBER KNIGHT
Kyber Knight brings a unique approach to venture capital with its mission to provide innovative early stage companies and founders access to a network of highly successful and influential executives that can help them establish a framework of scalable success.
Founded by seasoned investors and founders Sunny Dhillon and Linus Liang, Kyber Knight offers a hands-on collaborative approach and is hyper-focused on pre-seed and seed investing in companies that are building across commerce, AI, and labor. The Kyber Knight team also includes David Bloom, who has worked with the co-founders for five years and leads the built world and labor automation focuses, and Ary Vaidya, who leads the AI and commerce focuses at the fund.
Kyber Knight, established in 2023, has raised from 50+ CEO, founders, executives of top tech startups, and Fortune 500 companies. These highly influential and successful people are known as our “Luminary Leaders” and include Alphabet, Inc. Chairman John Hennessy, former CEO of eBay and Hewlett Packard, Board Member P&G and GM Meg Whitman, former President of Dreamworks Animation Chris DeFaria, former CEO of The Walt Disney Company Michael Eisner, and AirBnB Founder Joe Gebbia, among others.
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