This election feels like a time warp.
Give or take six weeks ago, Joe Biden had just spectacularly flubbed a debate, and kicked off a chorus demanding he drop out of the 2024 presidential election. Long-blue Silicon Valley started becoming more and more of a political battleground, as big names like Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz came forward in support of Donald Trump.
Fast-forward to Wednesday night: Kamala Harris is now the nominee, and I’m on a “VCs for Kamala” Zoom with hundreds of Silicon Valley techies. The Zoom party, which had as many as 600 people come through, raised about $150,000. Credit for $50,000 of that goes to legendary investor Ron Conway, who within the first ten minutes of the call promised to match the first $50,000.
“Everything’s at stake right now,” said Tiffany Dufu, founder of The Cru. “Our ability to control our own bodies is at stake…I’ve spent my entire career fighting for women and girls, and I’ve spent my career trying to promote and advance women’s leadership. This is the time. ‘You only get one shot. Do not miss this chance to blow this opportunity.’ And let me tell you, when a Black feminist starts quoting Eminem, we’re on the precipice.”
It’s astounding, time is fleeting—and this election inarguably is in a different place now than when the summer began. In some sense, the VCs for Kamala Zoom fundraiser felt like a microcosm for just how quickly this election has shifted. VCs for Kamala was just started in late July by VC firm Graham & Walker founder Leslie Feinzaig. The group has rapidly garnered support and buy-in from some Silicon Valley heavy hitters, including LinkedIn cofounder Reid Hoffman.
“People who worry about kind of little corner cases in crypto, taxation, or regulation are missing the fundamental importance of a stable, unifying force, both domestically and internationally,” Hoffman told the Zoom audience in a tacit reference to Andreessen, Horowitz, and other outspoken Trump-supporting VCs who’ve cited concerns about regulation under a Democrat-helmed administration. “Kamala Harris is actually, in fact, the business candidate. The Apprentice is a television show, [and] does not create a credential for doing this.”
“Looking at some of the comments, Kamala Harris is definitely the blue lightsaber in this,” Hoffman added. (Do I need to note that this is a Star Wars reference?)
And, yes, there was some smack talk, with Andreessen Horowitz mostly in the crosshairs.
“The competition is funded by Andreessen Horowitz and some other funds,” said Bloomberg Beta head Roy Bahat, who presented a pitch deck outlining the Kamala bull case. “But we all know more capital isn’t necessarily the thing that makes the difference. It’s that, plus a plan for execution.”
This election feels like a time warp, because it ultimately is. Harris became the de facto nominee with fewer than four months left in the race, and in the VCs for Kamala Zoom, urgency was both an undercurrent and a theme.
“Nowhere else in the world can someone like Kamala Harris have the possibility of becoming president,” said VCs for Kamala organizer John Corrigan. “But in order for us to usher that into reality…it’s going to take the actions of each and every one of us, every day.”
VCs for Kamala has so far, including Wednesday night’s fundraiser, raised about $176,000 for Harris. But they’re up against stiff competition. At a June fundraiser, David Sacks and Chamath Palihapitiya spearheaded an event for Trump that reportedly raised $12 million. Sequoia Capital’s Shaun Maguire posted on X in late May that he was donating $300,000 to Trump. Elon Musk also expressed his support for Trump in the aftermath of the July assassination attempt on the former president.
But I’ve started to wonder if these frames that I and many other reporters are using about a politically charged tech civil war are actually useful. I’ve been thinking we’ve perhaps too heavily emphasized the roles of tech-adjacent actors in recent weeks. Of course, given what I do for a living, I believe that tech matters. But I don’t want to lose sight of what’s essential here: This election is far bigger than tech and certainly bigger than any billionaire or billionaires (they will likely be small in the eyes of history anyhow).
I’m not alone in feeling this way: Approximately three out of four Americans believe to some extent that democracy is at stake in November. That suggests that people of both political affiliations feel this way, and that history is also at stake. And because this election is a time warp, there’s still a lot that’s going to shift unpredictably between now and November.
Let’s do the Time Warp again.
See you Monday,
Allie Garfinkle
Twitter: @agarfinks
Email: [email protected]
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Correction: The email version of this newsletter described Dufu as president of the Tory Burch Foundation. While that is true, she was not at the event in that capacity.
Nina Ajemian curated the deals section of today’s newsletter.
VENTURE DEALS
- FLYR, a San Francisco, Calif.-based travel technology company, raised $225 million in Series D funding. WestCap led the round and was joined by BlackRock, Streamlined Ventures, and others.
- Cents, a New York City-based laundry and dry cleaning business management system, raised $40 million in Series B funding. Camber Creek led the round and was joined by Tech Pioneer Fund, RXR (RADV), Derive Ventures, existing investors Bessemer Venture Partners, Tiger Global, and others.
- SYSO, a Boston, Mass.-based renewable energy management company, raised $14.5 million in Series B funding. Kimmeridge led the round and was joined by existing investor Lacuna Sustainable Investments.
- Chariot, a New York City-based donor advised fund payment company, raised $11 million in funding. Maveron led the round and was joined by Spark Capital, SV Angel, Y Combinator, angel investors, and others.
- Bandana, a Brooklyn, N.Y.-based online job platform, raised $8.5 million in funding. General Catalyst led the round and was joined by Craft Ventures and Triple Impact Capital.
- VSParticle, a Delft, Netherlands-based nanoparticle printing tools developer, raised €6.5 million ($7.1 million) in a Series A2 extension from NordicNinja and previous investor Plural.
- Cocoon, a London, England-based decarbonization company for the steel and concrete industries, raised $5.4 million in pre-seed funding from Gigascale Capital, Celsius Industries, Wireframe Ventures, and SOSV.
- Userled, a London, England-based AI platform for B2B marketing, raised £4 million ($5.1 million) in pre-seed funding. LocalGlobe led the round and was joined by Dig Ventures.
- Walnut, a Toronto, Canada-based insurance technology company, raised $4.6 million in funding. NAventures led the round and was joined by TELUS Global Ventures, Diagram Ventures, Portage, and Highline Beta.
- Bardeen, a San Francisco, Calif.-based AI agent for workplaces, has raised $3 million in funding from Dropbox Ventures and HubSpot Ventures.
PRIVATE EQUITY
- Blue Ridge Construction Capital acquired a majority stake in Banko Overhead Doors, a Tampla, Fla.-based garage door installation, service, and repair provider. Financial terms were not disclosed.
- Consello Capital acquired EHE Health, a New York City-based preventive healthcare provider. Financial terms were not disclosed.
- KKR agreed to acquire a majority stake in FGS Global, a New York City-based communications firm. Financial terms were not disclosed.
- Gamut Capital Management agreed to acquire Airtron Heating & Air Conditioning, a Columbus, Ohio-based heating, ventilation, and air conditioning provider. Financial terms were not disclosed.
- New Era Cap, backed by ACON Investments, acquired ’47, a Boston, Mass.-based sports apparel and headwear brand. Financial terms were not disclosed.
- SkyKnight Capital and Dragoneer Investment Group agreed to acquire a majority stake in Simplicity Group Holdings, a Summit, N.J.-based financial product distributor. Financial terms were not disclosed.
- Submittable, backed by Accel-KKR, acquired WizeHive, a Conshohocken, Pa.-based service provider for mission-driven organizations. Financial terms were not disclosed.
- Vestar Capital Partners recapitalized Roland Foods, a New York City-based ingredient supplier. Financial terms were not disclosed.
EXITS
- Wynnchurch Capital acquired ORS Nasco, a Tulsa, Okla.-based industrial supplies wholesaler, from One Equity Partners. Financial terms were not disclosed.
OTHER
- Houlihan Lokey agreed to acquire Waller Helms Advisors, a Chicago, Ill.-based investment bank for the insurance and wealth management sectors. Financial terms were not disclosed.
PEOPLE
- Portage, a Toronto, Canada-based fintech and financial services investment platform, hired AJ Okereke as a principal. Previously, he was at Insight Partners.
- Water Street Healthcare Partners, a Chicago, Ill.-based private equity firm, hired William Santulli as operating partner. Previously, he was at Advocate Health.
