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Accel (company)

(Redirected from Accel Partners)
For the acquired software company, see Accel Technologies.

Accel, formerly known as Accel Partners, is a global venture capital firm. The company has offices in Palo Alto, California and San Francisco, California, with additional offices in London,[1][2] and India.[3] The company's most notable investment was a $12.7 million investment in Facebook in May 2005 for 10% of the company, before the company had revenue.

Accel
FormerlyAccel Partners
Company typePrivate
IndustryVenture capital
Founded1983; 42 years ago (1983)
HeadquartersPalo Alto, California, U.S.
ProductsVenture capital
Growth capital
Number of employees
300 (2024) Edit this on Wikidata
Websitewww.accel.com

Accel invests in enterprise, SaaS, and consumer companies in seed, early, and growth-stage worldwide.[4]

History

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In 1983, Accel was founded by Arthur Patterson and Jim Swartz.[5] The co-founders developed the firm's "prepared mind" investment philosophy based on the Louis Pasteur quote "chance favors the prepared mind",[6] which they say requires "deep focus" and a disciplined and informed approach to investing.[7]

In 2000, Accel and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts formed Accel-KKR, an independently operated technology-focused private equity investment firm focused on control investments in middle-market companies.[8] In the same year, Accel partnered with IDG Capital to create IDG-Accel, a joint venture focusing on early-stage and growth investments in the Chinese market.[9]

In May 2005, Accel, under the leadership of Jim Breyer, invested $12.7 million for 10% of Facebook, before the company had revenue.[10] This investment became one of the most lucrative in venture capital history and was worth $6.6 billion at the time of the company's initial public offering in 2012.[11]

Investments and fundraises

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In December 2019, the company raised $550 million in its 6th investment fund focused on India.[12]

In May 2024, Accel raised a $650 million fund to invest in early-stage companies across Europe and Israel, with a focus on artificial intelligence and computer security. Fundraising was facilitated, in part, by the establishment of Accel's London office in 2000.[13]

In January 2025, Accel raised a $650 million early stage fund for startups in India and South East Asia. This was the firm's 8th fund focused on India.[14]

Notable investments
Year Companies
2020s Bumble,[15] Klaviyo,[16] Linear,[17] Synthesia,[18] H Company,[19] Vercel,[20] Tailscale,[21] Recurly,[22] Laravel,[23] Perplexity[24]
2010s 1Password,[25] Atlassian,[26] CrowdStrike,[27] Deliveroo,[28] Docusign,[29] Dropcam,[30] Fiverr,[31] Frame.io,[32] Freshworks[33] Jet.com,[34] Lynda,[35] Miro,[36] Qualtrics,[37] Scale AI,[38] Spotify,[39] Supercell,[40] Squarespace,[41] Swiggy,[42] Tenable,[43] UiPath,[44] Venmo[45]
2000s Cloudera,[46] Dropbox,[47] Facebook,[48] Flipkart (acquired by Walmart),[49] Groupon,[50] Slack,[51] Kayak[52]
1980s-1990s MetroPCS,[53] UUNet,[54] Polycom,[55] RealNetworks[56]

References

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  1. ^ "Accel raises $500 million fund to double down on Series A and B rounds in Europe and Israel". Tech.eu. 11 April 2016.
  2. ^ "Private Equity Week Wire for Tuesday 6/12". PE HUB. 4 April 2016.
  3. ^ Russell, Jon (March 24, 2015). "Accel Announces New $305 Million Investment Fund For India". TechCrunch.
  4. ^ "Accel Partners Teardown". CB Insights. 2016-02-05.
  5. ^ "Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship". Carnegie Mellon University.
  6. ^ King, Steve (August 18, 2009). "A Venture Capitalist View of the Top 5 Entrepreneurial Energy Opportunities". U.S. News & World Report.
  7. ^ Browne, Ryan (May 13, 2024). "Early Facebook investor Accel raises $650 million fund to back European and Israeli startups". CNBC.
  8. ^ Dowd, Kevin (17 April 2017). "Accel-KKR dips into Europe for latest tech transaction". Pitchbook.
  9. ^ Mac, Ryan (March 19, 2014). "Accel Partners Raises New Funds Totaling Over $1 Billion As Facebook Investor Jim Breyer Reduces Role". Forbes.
  10. ^ "Jim Breyer (via Accel Partners)". CNBC. May 22, 2012.
  11. ^ Levy, Ari (January 18, 2012). "Accel Facebook Bet Poised to Become Biggest Venture Profit: Tech". Bloomberg News.
  12. ^ Singh, Manish (December 2, 2019). "Accel closes new $550M fund for India". TechCrunch.
  13. ^ Mukherjee, Supantha (May 13, 2024). "VC firm Accel raises $650 mln to invest in AI, cybersecurity startups". Reuters.
  14. ^ "Accel raises $650 million early-stage fund for start-ups in India and Southeast Asia". Business Line. January 6, 2025.
  15. ^ "Priyanka Chopra-backed Bumble dating app attains valuation of $14 billion on market debut". Mint. February 12, 2021.
  16. ^ Miller, Ron (17 November 2020). "Marketing automation platform Klaviyo scores $200M Series C on $4.15B valuation". TechCrunch.
  17. ^ "Linear Raises $35M in Series B Funding". Finsmes. 17 September 2023.
  18. ^ Wiggers, Kyle (14 June 2023). "Synthesia secures $90M for AI that generates custom avatars". TechCrunch.,
  19. ^ Bergen, Mark (21 May 2024). "Holistic AI is now H, a new French startup with $220 Million Out of the Gate". Bloomberg News.
  20. ^ Pimentel, Benjamin (21 April 2020). "The 29-year-old founder of Vercel used this pitch deck to raise $21 million from investors like Accel and GitHub's CEO to build faster websites". Business Insider.
  21. ^ Roof, Katie (8 April 2025). "Toronto's Tailscale Hits $1.5 Billion Valuation With New Funding". Bloomberg News.
  22. ^ Balogh, Shannen (12 August 2020). "A fintech that helps Twitch, Showtime, and CBS manage their subscriptions is eyeing international growth after nabbing a big investment from Accel-KKR". Business Insider.
  23. ^ "Accel invests $57M into Laravel Products & Open-Source Framework". Laravel. September 5, 2024.
  24. ^ Who Owns Perplexity AI Company?, Canvas Business Model, July 12, 2025.
  25. ^ Miller, Ron (14 November 2019). "Fourteen years after launching, 1Password takes a $200M Series A".
  26. ^ Schonfeld, Erick (14 July 2010). "Product Management Software Company Atlassian Takes A Huge, $60 Million First Round of Funding From Accel". TechCrunch.
  27. ^ "CrowdStrike closes Series B with USD 30 million". Venture Capital Post. 9 September 2013.
  28. ^ Cook, James (29 January 2015). "Deliveroo, the Online Food Delivery Service Just for Restaurants, Is Raising £16 Million". Business Insider.
  29. ^ Ha, Anthony (12 July 2012). "E-Signature Company DocuSign Raises $47.5M Led By Kleiner Perkins, Mary Meeker Joins the Board". TechCrunch.
  30. ^ Rao, Leena (21 September 2011). "Accel Leads $6M Round in Video Monitoring And Cloud Streaming Service Dropcam". TechCrunch.
  31. ^ Rao, Leena (3 May 2012). "Task-Based Marketplace Fiverr Raises $15M From Accel and Bessemer". TechCrunch.
  32. ^ Ha, Anthony (5 October 2015). "Video Collaboration Startup Frame.io Raises $2.2M". TechCrunch.
  33. ^ Barik, Soumyarendra (22 September 2021). "Freshworks becomes first Indian Saas startup to list in US after $1 Bn IPO". entrackr.com.
  34. ^ Kerr, Ronny (16 May 2017). "When Jet.com was young". Vator News.
  35. ^ Empson, Rip (15 January 2013). "After 17 Years, Education platform Lynda.com Raises Its First Round of Funding, $103M from Accel & Spectrum". TechCrunch.
  36. ^ Hall, Christine (5 January 2022). "Visual Collaboration company Miro valued at $17.5B following $400M in new funding". TechCrunch.
  37. ^ Ha, Anthony (15 May 2012). "Qualtrics Raises $70M From Accel and Sequoia: The Biggest Software Company You haven't heard of". TechCrunch.
  38. ^ Etherington, Darrell (9 April 2021). "Scale CEO Alex Wang and Accel's Dan Levine explain why sometimes unconventional VC deals are best". TechCrunch.
  39. ^ Constine, Josh (21 November 2013). "Technology Crossover Ventures Funds All of Spotify's $250M International Growth Round". TechCrunch.
  40. ^ Butcher, Mike (26 May 2011). "Supercell Raises $12m from Accel Partners to power social web games". TechCrunch.
  41. ^ "Squarespace Raises $38.5 Million From Accel, Index Ventures". TechCrunch. 13 July 2010.
  42. ^ Magee, Christine (9 June 2015). "Swiggy Scoops Up $16.5M to Reinvent Food Delivery in India". TechCrunch.
  43. ^ Ha, Anthony (5 September 2012). "Network Security Company Tenable Raises a $50M Series A From Accel". TechCrunch.
  44. ^ Sawers, Paul (18 September 2018). "Automation software platform UiPath raises $225 million from CapitalG, Sequoia, and Accel at $3 billion valuation". VentureBeat.
  45. ^ Lardinois, Frederic (16 August 2012). "Online Payments Service Braintree Acquires Social Payments Startup Venmo". TechCrunch.
  46. ^ "Cloudera Raises $5 Million Series A Round For Hadoop Commercialization". TechCrunch. 16 March 2009.
  47. ^ Kincaid, Jason (4 November 2009). "Dropbox Raised $6 Million Sequoia-Led Series A In October 2008". TechCrunch.
  48. ^ Mangalindan, JP (11 January 2011). "Timeline: Where Facebook got its funding". Fortune.
  49. ^ J, Anand (10 May 2018). "Accel Partners Reveals Why It Invested in Flipkart At A Time When It Had No Backers". VC Circle.
  50. ^ Arrington, Michael (2 December 2009). "Groupon Gets a Hefty $30 Million from Accel for Local Offers Service". TechCrunch.
  51. ^ Chapman, Lizette (21 June 2019). "This VC Firm Invested $200 Million in Slack. Now Its Stake Is Worth $4.6 Billion". Fortune.
  52. ^ Schaal, Dennis (22 September 2016). "Kaya's Co-Founder and the Secret of Travel Startup Success". Skift.
  53. ^ "MetroPCS Director's $13 Million Sale". Barron's. 21 September 2011.
  54. ^ Flynn, Laurie (5 February 1995). "Technology; Internet Server Takes a Big Step". New York Times.
  55. ^ "Picture this". Forbes. 11 March 1998.
  56. ^ "Accel Partners starts international fund". CNET. June 13, 2001.
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