Craft Ventures

About

Craft Ventures is an American venture capital firm founded in 2017 by David O. Sacks and Bill Lee ¹². The firm is headquartered in San Francisco, with a second office opened in Austin, Texas in December 2024 ³⁴.

Sacks was formerly COO of PayPal and CEO of Yammer, which Microsoft acquired for $1.2 billion in 2012 ¹². Lee was formerly of Remarq and Big Fish Games ². The firm was established to provide operator-led support to founders, drawing on the partners’ experiences as entrepreneurs and executives ¹².

Craft’s debut fund closed at $350 million ². The firm raised a $500 million second fund in 2019 ⁵. In 2021, Craft announced two new funds totaling $1.3 billion, bringing total AUM to $2 billion ²⁶. In November 2023, the firm closed Craft Ventures IV ($712 million) and Craft Ventures Growth II ($608 million), totaling $1.32 billion and bringing total AUM to approximately $3.3 billion ⁶.

As of 2025, Craft has invested in approximately 255 companies, with 31 portfolio company acquisitions ⁷. The firm also operates an Executive Briefing Center connecting Fortune 2000 executives with portfolio companies and spun out its internal metrics tool as SaaSGrid ⁶.

Stated Thesis

Craft Ventures publicly describes itself as a firm focused on B2B software investing, built by founders for founders ³. The firm states it provides “low maintenance but high value-add” support, sharing “winning playbooks and access to senior talent at a stage before [companies] can hire it themselves” ³.

In announcing its 2023 funds, David Sacks highlighted generative AI as a significant opportunity for B2B software companies, stating the firm sees AI as enabling both entirely new products and operational enhancements for existing software businesses ⁶.

The firm emphasizes its operational expertise, noting that its investment and platform teams include former operators who have built and scaled technology businesses ³⁴.

Inferred Thesis

Based on 255 tracked investments (per Tracxn, as of 2025) ⁷:

Craft is overwhelmingly an enterprise/B2B investor. Of its portfolio, 197 companies are classified as Enterprise (B2B) and 183 as Software, with at least 117 focused on SaaS ⁷. Consumer investments represent a smaller but notable segment of the portfolio, including early bets on companies like Airbnb, Reddit, and Lyft ⁸.

Stage distribution: The firm has made 74 investments at Seed stage (average round size $4.83M), 80 at Series A (average round size $15.5M), and 24 at Series B (average round size $49.4M) ⁷. This positions Craft primarily as a Seed-to-Series A investor with selective growth-stage follow-ons.

Sector concentration: Based on the portfolio page, key sectors include enterprise SaaS, security (Dune Security, Horizon3.ai, Vanta, SecurityPal), fintech (Affirm, Pipe, Addepar, BitGo), AI/ML (Replit, Roboflow, CopyAI, Glean, Norm AI), and developer tools (Sourcegraph, ParadeDB) ⁸.

Geographic patterns: Approximately 20% of portfolio companies have a significant New York City presence, prompting the firm to open a NYC office ⁶. The Austin office opening in late 2024 suggests growing attention to Texas-based startups ⁴.

Notable gaps: Despite publicly emphasizing B2B, the portfolio includes significant consumer bets (Airbnb, Lyft, Reddit, Postmates, Eight Sleep), suggesting the stated thesis is narrower than actual investment behavior.

Portfolio

This table represents a partial sample. Craft Ventures has invested in approximately 255 companies total ⁷.

In Their Own Words

David Sacks on Craft’s approach: “We consider it a privilege to work with visionary founders and their teams as they build the next generation of technology businesses” ⁶.

On the firm’s investment thesis, Sacks has written that Craft focuses on B2B software because these companies offer “high growth, high margins, and recurring revenue models” and that “category leadership is a competitive moat that compounds value over time” ⁶.

What Founders Say

Christina Cacioppo, Co-Founder & CEO of Vanta: “Many VC firms produce their own findings on a company or space, but Craft’s research was deeper, more nuanced and, ultimately, more helpful than anything else I encountered” ⁹.

Amjad Masad, Co-Founder of Replit: “David Sacks and his firm Craft have been one of the most useful and thoughtful investors we’ve had” ⁹.

Niji Sabharwal, Co-Founder & CEO of AgentSync: “The Craft team’s deep understanding of SaaS businesses and work ethic combined with the Craft brand is a dangerously effective combination. They are true thought partners and genuinely feel like a seamless extension of our team. Easily the most valuable perk I have seen from an investor” ⁹.

Elizabeth Stark, Co-Founder & CEO of Lightning Labs: “Working with Craft is not like working with a typical venture firm. They’ve built companies, scaled teams, and been through all the ups and downs that are a natural part of startup life. They have been there before, and they put in the work” ⁹.

John Nay, Founder & CEO of Norm AI: “Craft digs in immediately and gets shit done. They align with a founder and jump in where helpful” ⁹.

Beyang Liu, Co-Founder & CTO of Sourcegraph: “Especially if you’re Bottom Up SaaS, Craft is SUPER helpful and will work very hard on your behalf. They’ve helped us on everything from sales, marketing and hiring, to planning, forecasting, and messaging” ⁹.

Snehal Antani, Co-Founder & CEO of Horizon3.ai: “What’s been amazing working with Craft – they’ve all been in the thick of it. Every person that I’ve worked with is a former operator with that expertise and experience that’s helped us frame really hard problems that have enabled us to succeed” ⁹.

Sources