DCVC

DCVC sits on University Avenue in downtown Palo Alto, a few blocks from where Google and Facebook once rented their first offices. Its investments look nothing like a typical consumer app. DCVC backs companies that drill for geothermal heat, reprogram soil microbes, build small nuclear reactors and design quantum computers. The firm calls itself "deep tech venture capital" and says it always has been.

This profile is a neutral explainer for visitors and founders. It is based on DCVC's website and published reporting. For the basics of how venture funds work, start with our venture capital guide.

Founding as Data Collective

DCVC began in 2010 under the name Data Collective. Its founders and managing partners are Matt Ocko and Zachary Bogue, who still lead the firm. The early idea, as TechCrunch described it in 2014, was to back companies built on big data and heavy computation, across many industries.

Over time the firm shortened its name to DCVC and widened its scope from data infrastructure to physical industries. Its website now says it backs "entrepreneurs using computational approaches to solve trillion-dollar problems in the real world," especially in industries "that haven't seen material progress in decades." The Data Collective name still appears on the site.

The office at 270 University Avenue

DCVC's website lists two locations: 270 University Avenue in Palo Alto and 500 2nd Street, Floor 2, in San Francisco. The Palo Alto office is a few blocks up University Avenue from the Palo Alto Caltrain station. Accel is a short walk farther up the same avenue at number 500.

The office is private and meetings are by appointment. The street around it is the attraction for visitors. Our University Avenue tech history explains why so many startups began here. The famous tech addresses tour links the nearby sites into a walk.

Focus areas

DCVC organizes its work into a long list of topics on its website:

• AI, compute and quantum
• Computational biology and chemistry
• Cybersecurity, security and defense
• Energy and climate
• Finance and insurance
• Industrial transformation and advanced manufacturing
• Next-generation agriculture
• Space
• TechBio and TechMed

The firm says it has "one of the longest records of climate tech investment of any VC firm in the world." It also says it wants to automate "dirty, dangerous industries" where labor is scarce. Its team, it notes, has "more published scientists than MBAs," and most members have founded or run companies.

Funds and structure

DCVC describes itself as one franchise with several fund families:

• Flagship funds. Six flagship funds invest across deep tech, with AI as a common thread.
• DCVC Bio. Set up in 2018 for life sciences, agriculture and industrial biology. The firm says it was co-founded by managing partners John Hamer, Kiersten Stead, Matt Ocko and Zachary Bogue. It has three funds of its own.

In total the firm says it has raised 13 funds and manages more than $4 billion, with about 50 team members and more than 200 companies backed. Outside reporting gives a sense of growth over time. Crunchbase News reported on September 18, 2019 that DCVC Fund V closed at $725 million, well above its target, after a $212 million fourth fund that closed at the end of 2016.

Notable investments

DCVC features several companies on its own homepage and news pages:

Earlier reporting on the firm, including the 2019 Crunchbase News story, named Recursion Pharmaceuticals and Gro Intelligence among its portfolio companies. It listed Square, Elastic and Zoom among the IPOs it had been part of and noted the sale of Nervana to Intel.

Deep tech investments often take longer to pay off than software. Companies may need years of research, regulatory approval or factory building before they earn revenue. The firm's own tagline puts it this way: "We are in a hurry to do things that take time."

Deep tech near Stanford

DCVC's focus fits its surroundings. Palo Alto sits beside Stanford and a short drive from SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and SRI International in Menlo Park. Some deep tech founders come out of those labs. Our page on research labs near Palo Alto covers what they do and which are open to visitors. The Stanford Research Park guide covers the business park where many science-based companies have rented space.

How deep tech rounds differ

A software startup can often show customers and revenue within a year or two. A company building a reactor, a new drug or a satellite usually cannot. That changes what investors look for and how rounds are put together.

• Technical risk first. Early rounds often pay for proving that the science works at all. Investors want to see data, prototypes and peer review rather than sales charts.
• Non-dilutive money. Government grants, research contracts and defense awards can fund a large share of the work. DCVC's news about Radiant's Army award is an example of this kind of support.
• Bigger later rounds. Building plants or running trials takes far more capital than writing code. Companies often bring in project finance, strategic partners or corporate investors alongside venture funds.
• Longer timelines. Exits can take a decade or more. Founders should ask any investor how its fund life fits the company's plan.

DCVC says it supports founders through these stretches with "the right introductions and resources at the right times." It also describes taking "the nervous phone call when things feel bleak or scary." Our venture capital glossary defines non-dilutive funding, fund life and other terms that matter in these deals.

How founders reach DCVC

DCVC's website does not offer an open pitch form on the pages we checked. It ends its About page with an invitation: "If you dream without illusion, we welcome your interest in our work." In practice, founders usually:

1. Read the team page and find the partner whose technical background matches the company.
2. Ask a scientist, founder or co-investor who knows that partner for a short introduction.
3. Expect technical diligence. With a team heavy on scientists, questions often go deep into the underlying technology.

Our guide to pitching investors covers the first email and meeting.

Visiting the area

Our guide to downtown Palo Alto lists nearby places to eat and work between meetings.

Frequently asked questions