When was Hercules Capital founded?

Hercules Capital was founded in 2003.

Where is Hercules Capital's headquarters located?

Hercules Capital's headquarters is located in Palo Alto (United States).

How many companies has Hercules Capital invested in?

Hercules Capital has invested in 422 companies, including Facebook & DocuSign.

Which companies has Hercules Capital invested in lately?

Valar Atomics & Beren Therapeutics are the latest investments by Hercules Capital.

What sectors does Hercules Capital focus on for investments?

Top sectors in Hercules Capital's portfolio are Enterprise Applications (147 investments) and Life Sciences (138 investments).

How many exits has Hercules Capital been involved in?

Hercules Capital's portfolio has seen 75 IPOs and 184 acquisitions.

How many unicorns are there in Hercules Capital's portfolio?

There are 22 unicorns in Hercules Capital's portfolio.

Hercules Capital - 2026 Investor Profile, Portfolio, Team & Investment Trends

Q: How big is Hercules Capital's investment team?

Hercules Capital has a team of 8.

Hercules Capital, established in 2003, is a private debt fund primarily based in Palo Alto, United States. It specializes in financing Venture Debt round of companies based in United States. Its portfolio includes 422 firms, spanning the Enterprise Applications, Life Sciences sectors.

As of Sep 2026, Hercules Capital has 22 unicorns under its belt and has witnessed 259 portfolio exits so far. Its most notable investments include companies like Facebook, DocuSign and Palantir.

Its latest investment was a $200M Conventional Debt round in Valar Atomics on Aug 03, 2026, which also saw participation from Erebor and J P Morgan.

Key Metrics

Founded Year

2003

Location

Palo Alto, United States

Portfolio Companies

Facebook, DocuSign & 420 more

Sectors of Investment

Enterprise Applications, Life Sciences & 37 more

Stages of Investment

Venture Debt, Conventional Debt & 9 more

Locations of Investment

United States, United Kingdom & 19 more

Unicorn in Portfolio

Hermeus, Semperis & 20 more

View Hercules Capital's full profile

Hercules Capital has a portfolio of 422 companies, including 22 unicorns. Their most notable investments are in Reveleer and Strive Health.Their portfolio spans across United States, United Kingdom, Canada and 18 more locations. They have invested in Enterprise Applications, Life Sciences, High Tech and 36 other sectors, across stages such as Venture Debt, Conventional Debt and 9 more. Here is the list of top investments by Hercules Capital:

1. Facebook

Operator of a social networking service facilitating connection and communication. Its services allows users to connect with friends, family, and other individuals. It provides tools for sharing updates, photos, and videos. The platform also offers features for creating and joining groups, following interests, and discovering content.

Key facts about Facebook

Founded Year: 2004
Location: Menlo Park (United States)
Annual Revenue: $1B+ as on Dec 31, 2025
Stage: Public
Total Funding till date: $2.27B
Employee Count: 27,690 as on Jul 31, 2026
Investors: Sprout Capital Partners, Meritech and 120 Others
Latest Funding Round: Grant (prize money), Jan 15, 2017, $*****
Highlight: Public

2. DocuSign

Provider of electronic signature and intelligent agreement management platform solutions. The platform offers tools for contract lifecycle management, agreement preparation, and agreement workflow automation. It provides features such as electronic notarization, web forms, and multi-channel delivery options. The platform extends its capabilities through integrations, APIs, and a mobile application.

Key facts about DocuSign

Founded Year: 2003
Location: San Francisco (United States)
Annual Revenue: $1B+ as on Jan 31, 2026
Stage: Public
Total Funding till date: $520M
Employee Count: 8,578 as on Aug 31, 2026
Investors: HTIF, Glynn Capital and 92 Others
Latest Funding Round: Post IPO, Jul 20, 2020, $*****
Highlight: Public

3. Palantir

Platform that provides data analysis and management solutions. It is a software company that specializes in big data analytics and provides software platforms for analyzing and integrating large amounts of data. Its software powers real-time, AI-driven decisions in critical government and commercial enterprise, from the factory floors to the front lines.

Key facts about Palantir

Founded Year: 2003
Location: Denver (United States)
Annual Revenue: $1B+ as on Dec 31, 2025
Stage: Public
Total Funding till date: $2.46B
Employee Count: 6,021 as on Aug 31, 2026
Investors: Western Technology Investment, Glynn Capital and 170 Others
Latest Funding Round: Post IPO, Aug 31, 2023, $*****
Highlight: Public

4. Ancestry

Ancestry is a provider of an online genealogy platform offering a host of services. It offers family history information, historical records, and other genealogical information. It enables users to create their family tree and helps them discover, preserve and share their family history. The company uses microarray-based autosomal DNA testing technology and an online family history resource to predict family connections and relatives. The company offers a subscription-based service. The company claims its online resource contains all relevant Federal Census records since 1790 (Archives).

Key facts about Ancestry

Founded Year: 1996
Location: Lehi (United States)
Annual Revenue: $500M - $1B as on Dec 31, 2015
Last Known Valuation: $*****
Stage: Acquired
Total Funding till date: $446M
Employee Count: 1,863 as on Aug 31, 2026
Investors: Meritech, Adams Street Partners and 18 Others
Latest Funding Round: Post IPO, Apr 2016, $*****
Highlight: Acquired

5. Thumbtack

App based platform to connect users with local service professionals. The platform allows users to find, compare, and hire professionals for plumbing, house cleaning, landscaping, and photography. It allows customers to describe requirements in detail based on questions asked on the platform and it deliver custom quotes from vetted professionals. It enables users to compare prices, see reviews, and hire a professional online.

Key facts about Thumbtack

Founded Year: 2008
Location: San Francisco (United States)
Valuation: $*****
Stage: Series H
Total Funding till date: $699M
Employee Count: 1,807 as on Aug 31, 2026
Investors: Founders Circle Capital, Baillie Gifford and 23 Others
Latest Funding Round: Conventional Debt, Jul 31, 2024, $*****
Highlight: Editors' Pick

View the full list of portfolio companies

Hercules Capital has invested in 424 companies over the last 21 years, with an average of 7 new investments annually in the last 10 years. In 2025, it made 6 investments, while as of Aug 2026, it has made 7 investments in this year. Its most recent first time investment was in Valar Atomics and most recent follow-on round was in Tipalti.

Here are Hercules Capital's Year-on-Year Investment Trends:

Year	No. of Investments
Year	1^st Round	Follow-on	Total
2026 (YTD)	7	0	7
2025	5	1	6
2024	8	0	8
2023	7	0	7
2022	9	1	10
2021	8	1	9
2020	5	0	5
2019	5	2	7
2018	10	2	12
2017	5	1	6

View all investments by Hercules Capital

Hercules Capital has made 56 investments in Venture Debt stage with an average round size of $33.2M, 53 investments in Conventional Debt stage with an average round size of $64.5M and 14 investments in Series D stage with an average round size of $62.1M.

Here are Hercules Capital's investments by stage:

Stage of entry	No. of Investments
Venture Debt	56
Conventional Debt	53
Series D	14
Series B	11
Series E	11
Others	32

Note: We have considered here, only first round of investments

View all investments by Hercules Capital

Hercules Capital has a diverse portfolio, with companies operating in the Life Sciences, Enterprise Applications, High Tech, Enterprise Infrastructure and Consumer. Notably, it has invested in 333 Tech companies, 318 Enterprise (B2B) companies, 172 Software companies and at least 81 companies focusing on Saas.

Here are Hercules Capital's investments by sector:

Sector	No. of Investments
Life Sciences	68
Enterprise Applications	55
High Tech	28
Enterprise Infrastructure	19
Consumer	18
Others	130

Note: We have considered here, only first round of investments

View all investments by Hercules Capital

Hercules Capital has made most investments in United States (148), followed by United Kingdom where it has made 6 investments.

Here are Hercules Capital's investments by geography:

Country	No. of Investments
United States	148
United Kingdom	6
Canada	4
Germany	4
Australia	2
Others	13

Note: We have considered here, only first round of investments

View all investments by Hercules Capital

Hercules Capital has made 7 investments in 2026 so far. Valar Atomics and Beren Therapeutics are the latest among them.

Here are the most recent investments by Hercules Capital:

Filter this list

Date	Company	Location	Round Details	Round Amount	Co-Investors
Aug 03, 2026	Valar Atomics	United States	Conventional Debt	6916	Erebor [+2]
Jun 10, 2026	Beren Therapeutics	Germany	Conventional Debt	9528	-
Jun 03, 2026	Perk	United States	Conventional Debt	1917	Blue Owl [+2]
Apr 07, 2026	Hermeus	United States	Conventional Debt	7659	SVB [+2]
Mar 09, 2026	Intercom	United States	Conventional Debt	6976	-

See more recent investments made by Hercules Capital

Hercules Capital has 22 unicorns in its portfolio - Hermeus, Semperis, Electric Hydrogen and others. The most recent unicorn in their portfolio is Hermeus. It became a unicorn in 2026.

Here is a list of unicorns in Hercules Capital's portfolio:

Filter this list

Tracxn Score	Company	Short Description	Founded year	Sector	Location	Company Stage	First Investment/ Acquisition Details
60	Hermeus	Manufacturer of supersonic aircraft	2018	Aerospace, Maritime and Defense Tech	Atlanta	Series C	bojkrpj
66	Semperis	Provider of Active Directory and Entra ID security and recovery solutions	2013	Enterprise Infrastructure [+1]	Hoboken	Series C	ijjqhcb
64	Electric Hydrogen	Manufacturer of advanced electrolyzer systems for clean hydrogen production solutions	2020	Energy Tech [+2]	San Carlos	Series C	fjlxhxh
76	Perk	Provider of AI powered platform for managing business travel, expenses, and invoices	2012	Consumer [+3]	Austin	Series E	jouvsal
79	Jobandtalent	Provider of an AI-powered platform connecting companies with frontline workers	2008	Enterprise Applications	Madrid	Series F	{{qxmjk

View more details about unicorns in Hercules Capital's portfolio

75 of Hercules Capital's portfolio companies have become public. HawkEye 360 got listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), in May 2026 at marketcap of $2.42B and enGene got listed on the National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (NASDAQ).

Here are Hercules Capital's portfolio companies that went public:

Filter this list

Company	IPO Date	First Invested on	First Round of Investment	Round Size
HawkEye 360	May 07, 2026	Dec 18, 2025	Series E	7032
enGene	Nov 01, 2023	Dec 26, 2023	Convertible Debt	8905
Sprinklr	Jun 23, 2021	-	-	3477
908 Devices	Dec 18, 2020	-	-	8537
Proterra	Nov 27, 2020	Jun 30, 2015	Conventional Debt	2556

View more details about public companies in Hercules Capital's portfolio

184 companies from Hercules Capital's portfolio have been acquired. The most recent acquisition was XOMA Corporation in Jul 2026 by Ligand Pharmaceuticals for $*****.

Here are Hercules Capital's portfolio companies that got acquired most recently:

Filter this list

Company	Acquisition Date	First Invested on	First Round of Investment	Round Size
XOMA Corporation	Jul 14, 2026	-	-	7292
C2FO	Jul 03, 2026	-	-	2331
Contentful	Jun 01, 2026	Dec 05, 2018	Series D	5131
Sirion	Jan 09, 2026	-	-	3901
Dynavax	Dec 24, 2025	-	-	4709

View all acquired companies in Hercules Capital's portfolio

Hercules Capital has a team of 8 members including 2 Partners located in United States.

View team details of Hercules Capital

Over the past 21 years, 1169 investors have co-invested in Hercules Capital's portfolio companies. This includes funds and angels.

Invested before Hercules Capital: SVB, Venrock and 731 others have invested in rounds before Hercules Capital. There are 8 companies where SVB has invested before Hercules Capital and 8 companies where Venrock has invested before Hercules Capital.
Top Co-investors of Hercules Capital: 157 investors entered a company along with Hercules Capital. These include investors like SVB (7 companies).
Invested after Hercules Capital: A total of 279 investors have invested in Hercules Capital's portfolio after their investments. Top Investors include Goldman Sachs (5 companies) and Europa (4 companies).