American venture capital firm
Contrary is a San Francisco -based venture capital firm. Formed in 2016, the firm invests across early stage companies in North America and India .[ 2] Select investments from the firm include DoorDash , Anduril , Ramp , and Zepto .
Background
The firm was founded by Eric Tarczynski in 2016. For his work founding Contrary, Tarczynski was awarded the Forbes 30 Under 30 honor in the Venture Capital category.[ 3] [ 4]
Investors in Contrary include: Tesla co-founder Martin Eberhard , Reddit co-founder Steve Huffman , Twitch co-founder Emmett Shear , Twitter ex-CEO Parag Agrawal , Meta Chief Product Officer Chris Cox , and GitHub COO Erica Brescia.[ 2] [ 5] [ 6]
Investments
Contrary's current investments include DoorDash , Anduril ,[ 7] Armada,[ 8] [ 9] Ramp ,[ 10] Vise,[ 11] Kyte ,[ 12] Maev,[ 13] Memora Health,[ 14] Check,[ 15] Stytch,[ 16] Hallow ,[ 17] Parfait,[ 18] and Zepto ,[ 19] among others.
In July 2020, the firm announced Contrary Talent, a network of engineers, designers, product managers, and operators. The network supports members through job opportunities, career development, and funding should they start a company.[ 20]
In July 2020, Contrary made the first investment in Zepto,[ 21] [ 22] a grocery delivery company based in India. Zepto has since raised $560 million, including funding from Y Combinator and Breyer Capital .[ 19]
In October 2021, Contrary announced a $20 million Fund II.[ 6] In March 2022, Contrary announced that the firm had closed a $75 million Fund III.[ 7]
References
^ "Team | Contrary" . www.contrary.com . Retrieved 2024-12-05 .
^ a b "Part fund, part accelerator, Contrary Capital invests in student entrepreneurs" . TechCrunch . 16 May 2019. Retrieved 2022-04-29 .
^ Konrad, Alex. "30 Under 30 Venture Capital 2022: Meet The New Wave Of Investors Backing Builders From Crypto To Cancer Research" . Forbes . Retrieved 2022-04-29 .
^ "Eric Tarczynski" . Forbes . Retrieved 2022-04-29 .
^ Eichensehr, Morgan (2017-09-26). "Student investment firm backed by Tesla founder launches at UMd., Johns Hopkins" . Baltimore Business Journal . Retrieved 2022-04-29 .
^ a b "Contrary Capital's $20M Fund II is all about community-first investments" . TechCrunch . 5 October 2021. Retrieved 2022-04-29 .
^ a b Szkutak, Rebecca. "Contrary Raises $75 Million For Its Second Fund In Five Months" . Forbes . Retrieved 2022-04-29 .
^ "Portfolio | Contrary" . www.contrary.com . Retrieved 2024-01-30 .
^ Konrad, Alex. "Startup Armada Is Bringing AI To Remote Places, Using SpaceX Starlink Satellites" . Forbes . Retrieved 2024-01-30 .
^ "Ramp raises $300M at a $3.9B valuation, makes its first acquisition" . TechCrunch . 24 August 2021. Retrieved 2022-04-29 .
^ "Fintech startup Vise raises $65 million in Series C led by Ribbit Capital" . TechCrunch . 18 May 2021. Retrieved 2022-04-29 .
^ "Kyte wants to build the foundation for autonomous rental car delivery" . TechCrunch . 6 October 2021. Retrieved 2022-04-29 .
^ "Maev secures $9M; will have your dog howling for more of its raw pet food" . TechCrunch . 10 December 2021. Retrieved 2022-04-29 .
^ "Exclusive: Andreessen Horowitz just invested in this A.I. health care startup" . Fortune . Retrieved 2022-04-29 .
^ "Exclusive: Fintech startup Check raises $35 million, led by Stripe" . Fortune . Retrieved 2022-04-29 .
^ "Stytch, an API-first passwordless startup, raises $90M Series B at $1B valuation" . TechCrunch . 18 November 2021. Retrieved 2022-04-29 .
^ "Catholic prayer app, Hallow, gets $40 million in funding" . Fortune . Retrieved 2022-04-29 .
^ Dorisca, Samantha (2022-04-11). "Women-Led Startup Using AI To Provide Buyers With Wig Customization Receives Backing From Serena Ventures" . AfroTech . Retrieved 2022-04-29 .
^ a b Singh, Manish (2023-08-25). "Zepto becomes India's first 2023 unicorn with $200 million fresh funding" . TechCrunch . Verizon Media. Retrieved 2024-01-04 .
^ "Contrary Capital wants to invest in the next big tech mafia" . TechCrunch . July 2020. Retrieved 2022-04-29 .
^ Hernbroth, Megan. "One Silicon Valley venture firm will invest up to $100,000 in startups founded by college students taking a gap year to become entrepreneurs" . Business Insider . Retrieved 2022-04-29 .
^ Ethier, Marc (2020-07-16). "This VC Firm Is Offering MBAs $100K To Take A Gap Year" . Poets&Quants . Retrieved 2022-04-29 .
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