About Sands Capital Ventures
Sands Capital Ventures is a venture capital firm founded in 1992. It is primarily based out of Arlington, United States. As of Aug 2024, Sands Capital Ventures has invested in 83 companies. It primarily invests in Series A round in United States based startups. Its investments are spread across a wide range of sectors from Enterprise Applications to Life Sciences and High Tech. Most recently it participated in the $***** Series A round of pgEdge Overall, Sands Capital Ventures portfolio has seen 11 unicorns, 15 IPOs and 24 acquisitions including key companies like Slack, DocuSign and DoorDash. A lot of funds co-invest with Sands Capital Ventures, with names like RA Capital Management sharing a substantial percentage of its portfolio. Sands Capital Ventures has team of 29 people including 10 partners.Key Metrics
Team Members
Portfolio Sectors
Portfolio Locations
Rounds of Entry
Series A, Series B & 8 more
Portfolio IPOs
Portfolio Acquisitions
Portfolio Unicorns
Sands Capital Ventures' List of Top Investments
Sands Capital Ventures has a portfolio of 83 companies, including 11 unicorns. Their most notable investments are in Avitide and NepFin.Their portfolio spans across United States, United Kingdom, India and 4 more locations. They have invested in Enterprise Applications, Life Sciences, High Tech and 19 other sectors, across stages such as Series A, Series B and 8 more. Here is the list of top investments by Sands Capital Ventures:
1. Slack
Developer of communication software for team collaboration and workflow automation. This platform provides digital channels for messaging, file sharing, and audio or video meetings. It integrates with various third-party applications to centralize project management and task tracking. Users utilize automated workflows to manage routine processes and receive notifications. The software includes search functionality to retrieve information from past conversations and documents. Security features protect data and ensure compliance across the organization. Artificial intelligence tools assist with summarizing content, drafting responses, and managing tasks within the interface.
Key facts about Slack
- Founded Year: 2009
- Location: San Francisco (United States)
- Last Known Valuation: $*****
- Stage: Acquired
- Total Funding till date: $1.22B
- Employee Count: 2,625 as on Jun 30, 2026
- Investors: ADS Ventures, Glynn Capital and 69 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Post IPO, Apr 16, 2020, $*****
- Highlight: Acquired
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: 8,503 as on Jun 30, 2026
- Investors: HTIF, Glynn Capital and 90 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Post IPO, Jul 20, 2020, $*****
- Highlight: Public
3. DoorDash
Platform facilitating fast, same-day delivery of food, grocery and retail essentials from local stores and restaurants to consumers. The platform allows customers to discover local, on-demand delivery or pickup from restaurants, nearby grocery stores. The application is available on the iOS and Android platforms.
Key facts about DoorDash
- Founded Year: 2013
- Location: San Francisco (United States)
- Annual Revenue: $1B+ as on Dec 31, 2025
- Stage: Public
- Total Funding till date: $2.5B
- Employee Count: 80,579 as on May 31, 2026
- Investors: Owl Rock, Vibhu Venture Partners and 56 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Series H, Jun 18, 2020, $*****
- Highlight: Public
4. Samsara
Platform offering AI-powered and cloud-based vehicle tracking solutions for fleet owners. The platform offers solutions that include vehicle telematics, driver safety management, AI dash cams, camera connectors, mobile workflow, compliance management tools, security task management tools, and asset tracking systems. It provides services to FMCG, oil and gas, logistics and transportation, and industrial automotive.
Key facts about Samsara
- Founded Year: 2015
- Location: San Francisco (United States)
- Annual Revenue: $1B+ as on Jan 31, 2026
- Stage: Public
- Total Funding till date: $915M
- Employee Count: 5,649 as on Jun 30, 2026
- Investors: Avitas Capital, Dragoneer Investment Group and 13 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Series F, May 21, 2020, $*****
- Highlight: Public
5. Scopely
Developer of interactive entertainment and video games across multiple platforms. The company creates, publishes, and operates immersive games. It utilizes a technology platform to support a diversified portfolio in the games industry. The company focuses on building long-lasting game experiences.
Key facts about Scopely
- Founded Year: 2011
- Location: Culver City (United States)
- Annual Revenue: £1M - £10M as on Dec 31, 2021
- Last Known Valuation: $*****
- Stage: Acquired
- Total Funding till date: $1.02B
- Employee Count: 3,862 as on Jun 30, 2026
- Investors: New Enterprise Associates, Cross Creek and 70 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Series E, Oct 28, 2020, $*****
- Highlight: Acquired
Sands Capital Ventures' Year-on-Year Investment Trends
Sands Capital Ventures has invested in 83 companies over the last 14 years, with an average of 4 new investments annually in the last 10 years. Its most recent first time investment was in pgEdge and most recent follow-on round was in Hungry.Year | No. of Investments | ||
|---|---|---|---|
1st Round | Follow-on | Total | |
2026 (YTD) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2025 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2024 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
2023 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
2022 | 3 | 1 | 4 |
2021 | 8 | 3 | 11 |
2020 | 6 | 3 | 9 |
2019 | 10 | 7 | 17 |
2018 | 5 | 4 | 9 |
2017 | 8 | 5 | 13 |
Sands Capital Ventures' Investments by Stage
Sands Capital Ventures has made 18 investments in Series A stage with an average round size of $13.8M, 11 investments in Series B stage with an average round size of $45.4M and 7 investments in Series C stage with an average round size of $98.5M.Stage of entry | No. of Investments |
|---|---|
Series A | 18 |
Series B | 11 |
Series C | 7 |
Series E | 7 |
Series D | 6 |
Others | 11 |
Note: We have considered here, only first round of investments
Sands Capital Ventures' Investments by Sector
Sands Capital Ventures has a diverse portfolio, with companies operating in the Enterprise Applications, Life Sciences, High Tech, Consumer and Enterprise Infrastructure. Notably, it has invested in 82 Tech companies, 73 Enterprise (B2B) companies, 40 Software companies and at least 26 companies focusing on Saas.Sector | No. of Investments |
|---|---|
Enterprise Applications | 31 |
Life Sciences | 22 |
High Tech | 15 |
Consumer | 9 |
Enterprise Infrastructure | 8 |
Others | 57 |
Note: We have considered here, only first round of investments
Sands Capital Ventures' Investments by Geography
Sands Capital Ventures has made most investments in United States (51), followed by United Kingdom where it has made 4 investments.Country | No. of Investments |
|---|---|
United States | 51 |
United Kingdom | 4 |
India | 3 |
Ireland | 2 |
Canada | 1 |
Note: We have considered here, only first round of investments
Sands Capital Ventures' recent investments
Sands Capital Ventures has not made any investment in 2026 so far.Here are the most recent investments by Sands Capital Ventures:
Filter this listDate | Company | Location | Round Details | Round Amount | Co-Investors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Aug 16, 2024 | United States | Series A | 6757 | [+1] | |
Jul 24, 2023 | United States | Series D | 6788 | ||
Jun 13, 2023 | United States | Series C | 3154 | ||
Aug 30, 2022 | United States | Series C | 3298 | [+12] | |
May 18, 2022 | United States | Series A | 7953 | [+1] |
Unicorns in Sands Capital Ventures' Portfolio
Sands Capital Ventures has 11 unicorns in its portfolio - Globalization Partners, Freenome Health, Zilch and others. The most recent unicorn in their portfolio is Globalization Partners. It became a unicorn in 2022, 1 years after Sands Capital Ventures first invested in it.Here is a list of unicorns in Sands Capital Ventures' portfolio:
Tracxn Score | Company | Short Description | Founded year | Sector | Location | Company Stage | First Investment/ Acquisition Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
67 | AI-based hiring platform for taxable & legal purpose enterprises | 2012 | Boston | Late Stage | exsgip{ | ||
66 | Provider of a deep learning platform for detecting circulating cancer-related markers | 2014 | - | Series E | owitaea | ||
76 | Direct-to-consumer ad-subsidised payments network | 2018 | London | Series D | mdbcmsn | ||
61 | Developer of pipetting robot for lab automation | 2013 | Brooklyn | Series C | tswpddy | ||
71 | Provider of an agent workforce platform for enterprise artificial intelligence | 2012 | Boston | Series G | jppeljr |
IPOs and Publicly Listed companies in Sands Capital Ventures' Portfolio
15 of Sands Capital Ventures' portfolio companies have become public. BlackBuck got listed on the National Stock Exchange (NSE), Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), in Nov 2024 at marketcap of $570M and Acrivon Therapeutics got listed on the National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (NASDAQ) at marketcap of $261M.Here are Sands Capital Ventures' portfolio companies that went public:
Company | IPO Date | First Invested on | First Round of Investment | Round Size |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Nov 22, 2024 | Feb 02, 2017 | Series C | 5530 | |
Nov 15, 2022 | - | - | 8805 | |
Dec 15, 2021 | May 21, 2020 | Series F | 3298 | |
Jul 27, 2021 | Apr 01, 2019 | Series C | 3825 | |
Jul 01, 2021 | - | - | 7292 |
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Acquired companies in Sands Capital Ventures' Portfolio
24 companies from Sands Capital Ventures' portfolio have been acquired. The most recent acquisition was Brightflag in May 2025 by Wolters Kluwer for $*****.Here are Sands Capital Ventures' portfolio companies that got acquired most recently:
Company | Acquisition Date | First Invested on | First Round of Investment | Round Size |
|---|---|---|---|---|
May 29, 2025 | Apr 05, 2019 | Series A | 4120 | |
Mar 03, 2025 | Sep 15, 2015 | Series E | 9328 | |
Dec 22, 2023 | Mar 18, 2019 | Series B | 4285 | |
Dec 06, 2023 | Oct 25, 2018 | Series A | 2340 | |
Jun 20, 2023 | Dec 18, 2020 | Series C | 3647 |
Team profile of Sands Capital Ventures
Sands Capital Ventures has a team of 29 members including 10 Partners and 3 Principals located in United States. Sands Capital Ventures' team sits on the board of 1 company.Here is a list of top team members in Sands Capital Ventures:
Name | Designation | Location | Board Memberships | Contact Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Partner | Washington, DC | |||
Partner | Washington, DC | - | - | |
Partner | Arlington | - | - | |
Partner | Arlington | - | - | |
Partner | Arlington | - | - | |
Partner | Arlington | - | - | |
Partner | Washington, DC | - | - | |
Partner | United States | - | - | |
Partner | United States | - | - |
Co-investors of Sands Capital Ventures
Over the past 14 years, 634 investors have co-invested in Sands Capital Ventures's portfolio companies. This includes funds and angels.
- Invested before Sands Capital Ventures: Accel, Kleiner Perkins and 259 others have invested in rounds before Sands Capital Ventures. There are 9 companies where Accel has invested before Sands Capital Ventures and 7 companies where Kleiner Perkins has invested before Sands Capital Ventures.
- Top Co-investors of Sands Capital Ventures: 145 investors entered a company along with Sands Capital Ventures. These include investors like RA Capital Management (6 companies).
- Invested after Sands Capital Ventures: A total of 228 investors have invested in Sands Capital Ventures's portfolio after their investments. Top Investors include Sands Capital (12 companies), T. Rowe Price (4 companies) and Baillie Gifford (3 companies).
Recent News related to Sands Capital Ventures
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CompScience Secures $27.6M Series B And Expands AI-Driven Workplace Safety SolutionsSuperbCrew•Mar 03, 2025•CompScience, Sands Capital Ventures, Four More Capital, Working Capital and 5 others
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CompScience Secures $27.6M Series B to Advance AI-Driven Insurtech for Workplace SafetyGlobal Fintech Series•Feb 27, 2025•CompScience, Sands Capital, Valor Equity Partners, Sands Capital Ventures and 2 others
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Offensive AI Startup Dreadnode Secures $14M To Stress-Test AI SystemsSecurityWeek•Feb 25, 2025•Dreadnode, Decibel Therapeutics, Next Frontier Capital, Sands Capital Ventures and 1 other
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Ramp raised $150M at a $7.65B valuationSilicon Valley Journals•Apr 18, 2024•Ramp, Khosla Ventures, Greylock Partners, 8VC and 17 others
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HUNGRY Successfully Closes a $10 Million Series C1 Funding Round with Backing from Star InvestorsPRWeb•Jun 21, 2023•Hungry, , GP Ventures, Evolution VC Partners and 4 others
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Pgedge Raises $9M in Seed FinancingFinSMEs•Mar 07, 2023•pgEdge, Sands Capital, Grotech Ventures, Speedscale and 5 others
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Snyk Advances Developer-First Security with Series E InvestmentSnyk•Mar 10, 2021•Snyk, Accel, Tiger Global Management, Addition and 21 others
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WireWheel Raises $20M in Series B FundingFinSMEs•Feb 10, 2021•WireWheel, ForgePoint Capital, New Enterprise Associates, Revolution and 3 others
