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Playground Global

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Playground Global, LLC
Company typePrivate
IndustryHardware
Venture Capital
Founded2015; 9 years ago (2015)
HeadquartersPalo Alto, California
Key people
  • Peter Barrett
  • Matt Hershenson
  • Bruce Leak
  • Jory Bell
  • Laurie Yoler
WebsiteOfficial website

Playground Global, LLC is a venture capital firm established in 2015 and located in Palo Alto, CA, which focuses on early-stage deep tech investments.[1][2][3]

Background

[edit]

Playground Global is an early-stage venture capital firm that invests across next gen compute, automation, energy transition and decarbonization, engineered biology.[1][2][3] The company was founded in 2015 by Andy Rubin, Bruce Leak, Matt Hershenson and Peter Barrett.[4] Playground offers startups support with engineering, distribution, manufacturing and financing in exchange for equity.[3]

The firm invests exclusively in technical founders taking large technology risks.[3] Playground's portfolio consists of companies including PsiQuantum, Relativity Space, Ultima Genomics, and MosaicML (acq. by Databricks), d-Matrix, Strand Therapeutics and Velo3D (NYSE: SPFR).[5][6][7][8][9][10]

Management team

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Peter Barrett

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Barrett was a teenage software programmer.[11] His early work in security attracted the attention of the NSA, and he went on to found Rocket Science Games.[12] His career includes developing a widely used video codec, building a popular IPTV platform at Microsoft, and working on cloud intelligence for automotive at CloudCar.[13] He currently focuses on quantum and optical computing, robotics, and artificial intelligence at Playground.[14] Peter holds over 100 patents.[11]

Bruce Leak

[edit]

Bruce Leak, a Founding Partner at Playground Global, has a long and distinguished career in technology.[15] In his early years, he interned at Microsoft and Apple, where he worked on projects like Microsoft Word and QuickTime.[16] He later co-founded Rocket Science Games and WebTV, two companies that helped shape the early days of the internet.[17] After founding several other startups, Bruce co-founded Playground Global.[18]

Matt Hershenson

[edit]

Hershenson began his career at Apple, working in manufacturing engineering and later in the PowerBook design group.[19] In 2000, he co-founded Danger, a company that produced the first consumer smartphone, the T-Mobile Sidekick.[20] After Danger was acquired by Microsoft, Matt served as a Partner in Hardware Engineering.[20][21]

Matt later joined Google's Android team as director of hardware, overseeing the development of various devices.[22] In 2014, he co-founded Playground, a venture capital firm focused on investing in and supporting tech companies.[21]

Jory Bell

[edit]

Jory Bell is a General Partner at Playground Global, joining the firm in 2015 as Vice President.[23] His educational background includes three undergraduate degrees from MIT, and he has experience as a researcher at the MIT/Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute climate change program.[24][25]

He has held roles as a laptop designer at Apple and founder of OQO, a Guinness World Record-holding computer hardware and software company.[26] At Playground Global, he has facilitated successful investments in various deep tech domains and played a key role in securing early investments for the firm.[10] He focuses on engineered biology which makes up 30% of Playground’s investments.[27]

Benjamin Kim

[edit]

Benjamin Kim is a Partner at Playground Global, specializing in identifying and investing in companies focused on engineered biology.[28] He has led investments in various biotech firms and holds board positions in a number of them.

Kim did his PhD in bioengineering from Stanford University and a fellowship at Playground Global.[29] He has a strong background in bioengineering and biomedical engineering, which he leverages to analyze and invest in biotech companies.[30] He has also been recognized for his expertise, presenting at the 2023 BIO International Convention on immunotherapy advancements.[31]

Laurie Yoler

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Yoler served as a board member and strategic advisor at Zoox, President of Qualcomm Labs at Qualcomm, and founder and manager of GrowthPoint Technology Partners.[32][33] Her expertise spans strategic M&A transactions, fundraising, and technological innovation, particularly in AI and debit card services.[34][35]

Yoler contributed to Sun Microsystems' rise as a leading software server platform.[citation needed] She was on the board of Tesla.[32]

Andy Rubin

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In May 2019, Playground returned Rubin's investment and removed him from management, following reports of sexual misconduct alleged to have occurred in 2013 while Rubin was an executive at Google.[36] His smartphone company, Essential Products, remained under the Playground umbrella.[37] Rubin's Essential Products company failed in February 2020, prompting a rebuild of Playground Global.[38][39]

Significant investments

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Playground Global has raised $1.2 billion across three funds,[14] starting with $300 million in 2015 from its limited partners including Google, HP, Foxconn, Redpoint Ventures, Seagate Technology and Tencent, among others.[3][4] This was followed by $500 million raised during Fund II in 2016.[40][38] 20% of Playground’s portfolio companies are Unicorns.[41]

In June 2015, Playground Global was part of a $20.5 million series A funding round for Nervana Systems, an AI software company acquired by Intel in 2016.[42] In 2017, Playground Global backed Owl Labs, a conferencing devices company, with $1.3 million in seed money.[43][44] In December 2017, Playground Global led a seed round of $5.7 million for FarmWise to commercialize its automated weeding robot and to continue building autonomous systems which can harvest food for farmers.[45][46] Playground's Bruce Leak also joined their board of directors.[47] In March 2018, Playground Global led a $35 million funding round for Relativity Space, a startup that develops small launch vehicles with the use of 3-D printing technologies. Playground's Jory Bell joined Relativity's board.[48] In November 2018, Playground Global led a $30 million Series B Funding round for RapidSOS, an emergency response data provider.[49] Nearly a third of Playground’s investments are in engineered biology.[10]

Regarding Playground’s investment in Agility in March 2024, Peggy Johnson joined the company as CEO.[50] Peggy recently held the position of CEO at Magic Leap, a spatial computing company.[51] During her tenure, she spearheaded the company's transition from consumer to enterprise focus, oversaw its restructuring and recapitalization, and introduced Magic Leap 2, a leading AR headset designed for business applications.[52] Before joining Magic Leap, Peggy spent six years at Microsoft as Executive Vice President of Business Development, reporting directly to CEO Satya Nadella.[51][53] In this role, she was responsible for driving strategic partnerships and transactions to fuel growth for both Microsoft and its clients.[53] Notably, Peggy founded M12, Microsoft's inaugural corporate venture fund, which amassed a portfolio of over 80 companies within three years.[50] Prior to her time at Microsoft, Peggy spent 24 years at Qualcomm, where she served on the Executive Committee and held various leadership roles spanning marketing, sales, engineering, and business development.[50]

Since 2017, investing through its $500 million second fund, Playground has backed life sciences companies to apply technology in areas such as engineering biological systems.[54] Towards the end of 2017, the firm made an investment in Ultima, a company that maintained a low profile until May.[54] At that point, Ultima announced it had secured around $600 million in venture capital to further develop its DNA-sequencing technology.[55]

Notable Investments

References

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  1. ^ a b *"Andy Rubin's Playground wants to let anyone make the next big gadget". The Verge. 9 February 2016. Archived from the original on 2016-03-13. Retrieved 2016-03-15.
  2. ^ a b Glaser, April (2017-05-19). "Andy Rubin's design lab Playground is finally bringing products to market". Vox. Retrieved 2021-05-23.
  3. ^ a b c d e Wakabayashi, Alistair Barr And Daisuke. "Android Creator Andy Rubin Launching Playground Global". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Archived from the original on 2016-03-10. Retrieved 2016-03-15.
  4. ^ a b "Andy Rubin Unleashed Android on the World. Now Watch Him Do the Same With AI". WIRED. Archived from the original on 2016-03-15. Retrieved 2016-03-15.
  5. ^ a b "PsiQuantum backer Playground Global back in town looking for cash". Australian Financial Review. 2024-06-25. Retrieved 2024-10-03.
  6. ^ "Relativity Space Raises $35M Series B Funding Led by Playground Global as It Extends Full-Stack Rocket Production Leadership and Reinvents Satellite Launch and Deployment". Relativity Space. 2018-03-27. Retrieved 2024-10-03.
  7. ^ "Ultima Genomics Delivers the $100 Genome". www.ultimagenomics.com. Retrieved 2024-10-03.
  8. ^ Hibbison, Ryan (2024-01-16). "Playground's Barrett on avoiding 'stupid' sectors to find success in deep tech". Venture Capital Journal. Retrieved 2024-10-03.
  9. ^ a b "Strand Therapeutics Raises $52M in Oversubscribed Series A Round". BioSpace. 2021-06-23. Retrieved 2024-10-03.
  10. ^ a b c "Playground". Playground. Retrieved 2024-10-03.
  11. ^ a b "Peter Barrett". Playground. Retrieved 2024-10-03.
  12. ^ "Meet the Aussie who gave Elon Musk his first job". Australian Financial Review. 2023-03-29. Retrieved 2024-10-03.
  13. ^ "In conversation with Peter Barrett on toughest challenges at the boundaries of deep tech and hard science". calendar.kings.cam.ac.uk. 2024-10-23. Retrieved 2024-10-03.
  14. ^ a b "'We don't guess': Peter Barrett has 10 unicorns corralled in his Playground and he's hunting more". Forbes Australia. 2024-08-12. Retrieved 2024-10-03.
  15. ^ "Bruce Leak". Playground. Retrieved 2024-10-03.
  16. ^ "Bruce Leak". CHM. 2024-09-23. Retrieved 2024-10-03.
  17. ^ "Bruce Leak". Ideon Technologies. Retrieved 2024-10-03.
  18. ^ "Bruce Leak (Playground Global) / VC Breakdown & Contact". www.vcsheet.com. Retrieved 2024-10-03.
  19. ^ "Exclusive: Pink Danger leaks from Microsoft's Windows Phone". AppleInsider. 2009-10-09. Retrieved 2024-10-03.
  20. ^ a b "Playground co-founder Matt Hershenson highlights the importance of finding good people to work with before worrying about a good idea". UC Berkeley Sutardja Center. 2017-11-21. Retrieved 2024-10-03.
  21. ^ a b "Matt Hershenson". Playground. Retrieved 2024-10-03.
  22. ^ "Google Wants to Control Your Home". MIT Technology Review. Retrieved 2024-10-03.
  23. ^ "Jory Bell". Playground. Retrieved 2024-10-03.
  24. ^ "Jory Bell - Playground Global | RNA Leaders USA Speaker". informaconnect.com. Retrieved 2024-10-03.
  25. ^ "Jory Bell (Playground Global) / VC Breakdown & Contact". www.vcsheet.com. Retrieved 2024-10-03.
  26. ^ "Board of Directors - Strand Therapeutics". www.strandtx.com. 2023-06-22. Retrieved 2024-10-03.
  27. ^ Nass, Lucas Roquilly and Steph. "Playground Global on OpenVC". www.openvc.app. Retrieved 2024-10-03.
  28. ^ "Benjamin Kim". Playground. Retrieved 2024-10-03.
  29. ^ "Benjamin Kim | Bioengineering". bioengineering.stanford.edu. Retrieved 2024-10-03.
  30. ^ "Benjamin Kim - BIO International Convention | BIO". www.bio.org. Retrieved 2024-10-03.
  31. ^ "The Evolving Landscape of Immunotherapy in Solid Cancers - BIO International Convention | BIO". www.bio.org. Retrieved 2024-10-03.
  32. ^ a b "Laurie Yoler". www.bose.ae. Retrieved 2024-10-03.
  33. ^ "Laurie Yoler Bio | NACD". www.nacdonline.org. 2024-07-02. Retrieved 2024-10-03.
  34. ^ "Laurie Yoler (Playground Global) / VC Breakdown & Contact". www.vcsheet.com. Retrieved 2024-10-03.
  35. ^ "Laurie Yoler". CHM. 2024-09-23. Retrieved 2024-10-03.
  36. ^ "Disgraced Google Exec Andy Rubin Quietly Left His Venture Firm Earlier This Year". BuzzFeed News. 11 October 2019. Retrieved 2021-05-12.
  37. ^ Hollister, Sean (2019-10-11). "Andy Rubin has left his own incubator — but he's still in the building". The Verge. Retrieved 2021-05-12.
  38. ^ a b Primack, Dan. "Building a new Playground Global, after Andy Rubin". Axios. Retrieved 2021-05-23.
  39. ^ Primack, Dan; Fried, Ina (February 12, 2020). "Android founder's next phone company goes bust". Axios. Retrieved June 23, 2021.
  40. ^ "Andy Rubin's Playground Ventures is raising another $15M". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2021-05-23.
  41. ^ "Playground Global". Playground Global. Retrieved 2024-10-03.
  42. ^ Fried, Ina (2016-08-09). "Intel is paying more than $400 million to buy deep-learning startup Nervana Systems". Vox.
  43. ^ Goode, Lauren (2017-06-21). "Andy Rubin-backed Owl Labs just launched a robotic video conference camera". The Verge.
  44. ^ O'Brien, Kelly J. (May 9, 2017). "Andy Rubin-backed Owl Labs launches, but tech is still a mystery". www.bizjournals.com.
  45. ^ "FarmWise Raises $5.7m Seed Round for Vegetable Weeding Robot". AFN. 2017-12-19.
  46. ^ "Playground is betting big on robots". TechCrunch.
  47. ^ "Funding Snapshot: Farming Equipment Startup FarmWise Gathers $5.7 Million in Seed Round". Wall Street Journal. 2017-12-20. ISSN 0099-9660.
  48. ^ "Relativity closes $35 million Series B round". SpaceNews. 2018-03-27.
  49. ^ "RapidSOS, an emergency response data provider, raises $30M as it grows from 10K users to 250M – TechCrunch". 6 November 2018.
  50. ^ a b c "Agility Robotics Appoints Peggy Johnson as Chief Executive Officer". Agility Robotics. Retrieved 2024-10-03.
  51. ^ a b "Peggy Johnson Chief Executive Officer, Agility Robotics". weforum.org.
  52. ^ "Ross Rosenberg Appointed as Chief Executive Officer". Magic Leap. Retrieved 2024-10-03.
  53. ^ a b "Exec Connect - Peggy Johnson". microsoftalumni.com.
  54. ^ a b "Venture Investor Playground Global Makes Bigger Healthcare Push". The Wall Street Journal.
  55. ^ "Ultima Genomics raises $600 million to lower genome sequencing costs". Axios.
  56. ^ "Investors". Ayar Labs. Retrieved 2024-10-03.
  57. ^ Boucard, Thomas (2018-11-10). "Ayar Labs raises $24M series a led by Playground Global, with Participation from Founders Fund, GlobalFoundries, and Intel Capital". Yole Group. Retrieved 2024-10-03.
  58. ^ "Exclusive: AI chip startup d-Matrix raises $110 million with backing from Microsoft". reuters.com.
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