Industry Ventures

Acquired

Country: United States (US)
Founded: 2000
HQ: San Francisco, United States
Employees: ~100
Parent: Acquired by Goldman Sachs in 2025; operates within Goldman Sachs’ External Investing Group (XIG)

Indexes

Venture Capital Firms

Overview

Industry Ventures is a venture capital firm founded in 2000, specializing in flexible capital solutions across the venture lifecycle, including seed and early-stage investing, late-stage secondaries, and direct investments in VC-backed companies.¹²³ It combines fund-of-funds, LP secondaries, and direct secondaries, managing $7-8 billion in assets under management or supervision as of 2025, with a track record of over 1,000 investments and net realized returns of 18% IRR and 2.2x MOIC.¹⁵ The firm evolved from pioneering secondary investments to a full-stack platform supporting venture ecosystems from pre-seed to pre-IPO stages.¹³

History

Industry Ventures was founded in 2000 by Hans Swildens in San Francisco, initially pioneering secondary investments in venture capital.²⁵ Over two decades, it expanded from secondaries to a multi-strategy platform including fund-of-funds, direct secondaries, seed-stage investing, and late-stage opportunities for VC-backed companies.¹³ In October 2025, Goldman Sachs announced its acquisition, integrating Industry Ventures into its External Investing Group with $7 billion in assets under supervision.⁵

Product Lines

Product Line	Positioning	Price Range
Venture Fund-of-Funds	Investments in top-tier VC funds	Institutional scale
LP Secondary Strategy	Purchases of limited partner interests in VC funds	Institutional scale
Direct Secondary Investments	Buys equity from employees, founders, and early investors in VC-backed companies	Negotiated discounts
Seed and Early-Stage Investing	Capital for emerging venture companies	Institutional scale
Late-Stage Secondaries	Liquidity for mature VC-backed firms pre-IPO or buyout	Institutional scale

Notable Products

Secondary Investment Platform - Pioneering combination of fund-of-funds with direct and LP secondaries for diversified venture exposure.
Direct Co-Investments - Over 1,000 primary and secondary investments in high-quality VC-backed companies.
Seed-Stage Venture Funds - Support for early-stage technology companies and market propulsion.
Late-Stage Transition Capital - Funding for VC-backed companies moving to buyouts.

Reputation

Industry Ventures is recognized by professionals as a pioneer in venture secondaries and a leading provider of flexible capital solutions, valued for its multi-strategy approach and long track record since 2000.¹²³ Enthusiasts and investors note its access to discounted equity and comprehensive lifecycle coverage as strengths.² Following the 2025 Goldman Sachs acquisition, it gains enhanced institutional backing, though integration impacts remain to be observed.⁵

Sources (6)