Silicon Valley VC firm Clear Ventures launches with $120M fund for early-stage startups

A new Silicon Valley venture capital firm has launched with a $120 million fund aimed at backing “bold teams from the earliest stages of company creation” through to market leadership.

Founded out of Palo Alto, Calif. in 2014, Clear Ventures was created by Chris Rust and Rajeev Madhavan, who have together founded and sold multiple companies and claim to have invested in more than 50 companies to date. Rust was also formerly a partner at Sequoia Capital from 1998 to 2002.

The new Clear Ventures fund is backed by institutional pension funds, educational endowments, charitable foundations, and some industry executives. The firm says that it exceeded its original target by 50 percent, having initially set out to raise just $80 million. Though a fledgling VC fund, Clear Ventures is already active and has invested in a number of startups, including Falcon Computing, Paysa, Reflektion, Robin Systems, and Swift Navigation.

The main focus of the fund will be on early-stage startups, with a primary focus on helping business technology and services get off the ground. “As career startup veterans, we understand the intense team effort and shared sense of purpose required to build mighty companies from humble beginnings,” said Madhavan, in a press release. “We founded Clear to help ambitious startup teams navigate the complex entrepreneurial journey from concept to significant shareholder value creation, working in a supportive and respectful manner as full life-cycle partners.