Venture capital firm Homebrew has closed its initial round of funding to the tune of $35 million. CNN Fortune reported that the firm started by former Google product chief Hunter Walk and Twitter VP Staya Patel, would be used to “enable the people-based economy” targeting consumers and the enterprise.
News of their new venture broke back in February when it was revealed Walk and Patel were leaving their companies. Not much else is known about the venture capital firm aside from what was shared in Walk’s departure post:
After nine years, two months it’s time for me to figure out how to make lunch for myself. Yup, I’m leaving Google and it’s my year-old daughter’s fault. You see, when I look at her I think about the values my wife and I want to instill. Among the most important is the belief that you should pursue all your dreams, think big, lean into your fears and keep building. The best way for me to teach this is by example, so I need to step away from Google’s comfort. No next adventure to announce yet – this is about feeling there’s more for me to do, but also knowing I need some space to figure it out.
One of Walk’s achievements while at Google was working on the YouTube for Good team. He was even profiled in a Forbes piece about the video social network’s place in helping spur change in the world.
Being an investor is nothing new for Patel — in fact, it was something he did prior to joining Twitter in March 2011. For the previous four years, he worked at Battery Ventures. He joined as its VP of Product and left Twitter in June 2012. During his tenure, Patel was responsible for managing not only the company’s core product, but also its advertising business.
CNN Fortune says that both partners personally contributed around 2 percent of the fund capital. The majority came from funds-of-funds.
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Word leaked that Homebrew was raising funds through a Form D filing posted online. Originally, the firm was looking to bring in $25 million for its debut fund, but the filing showed it has risen $10 million.
It’s said that Homebrew will not only provide venture capital to startups, but also incubate some of them within the firm.
We’ve reached out to Walk for comment. He declined to provide any additional information.
Photo credit: Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images
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