Venture Capital · Profile from Venture Capital Research Companion
Industry Ventures
The San Francisco firm that turned buying unwanted venture stakes after the dot-com crash into a full "liquidity platform" for the venture industry, combining secondaries, emerging-manager fund commitments, direct Series B investments and small tech buyouts, until Goldman Sachs bought it in 2025 for up to ~$965m.
At a glance
- Founded
- c.2000, San Francisco (described as a "25-year-old" firm in October 2025)
- Founders
- Hans Swildens (founder and CEO); previously an entrepreneur who helped start Speedera Networks (acquired by Akamai)
- Headquarters
- San Francisco
- Ownership / structure
- Independent partnership until 2025; acquired by Goldman Sachs (agreement October 2025, closed early 2026); now part of Goldman Sachs Asset & Wealth Management
- Leadership (2026)
- Hans Swildens (founder/CEO); Justin Burden and Roland Reynolds (named Goldman partners with Swildens, January 2026); other managing directors reported include Jonathan Roosevelt, Brian Langner, Ira Simkhovitch and Lindsay Sharma (verify current roles)
- AUM / capital raised
- ~$7bn of assets under supervision at the Goldman deal (October 2025); >$8bn committed capital cited in mid-2024 coverage; ~45 employees
- Stage focus
- Venture secondaries (LP interests, direct secondaries, GP-led deals); primary commitments to emerging early-stage managers; direct investments around Series B; small software buyouts
- Signature investments
- Secondary funds V (2009, $265m), IX (2021, $850m) and X (2023, >$1.45bn); 2024 $900m hybrid fund; led Coalesce Series B; participated in Collaborative Robotics Series B; fund-level exposure to companies such as Carta, Acorns, CircleCI, Astranis and Quizlet (listed as notable fund investments). Misses: 2021-vintage purchases at peak prices (industry-wide)
6 deals and moves analysed
Each one gets a full strategy file in the companion: context, the decision, the financing, what happened, and the lesson.
2009
Industry Ventures Fund V
Venture Secondary Fund Close
2021
Secondary Fund IX
Venture Secondary Fund at Hard Cap
2023
Coalesce
Series B Lead
2023
Secondary Fund X
Largest Flagship Secondary Fund
2024
Collaborative Robotics
Series B Participation
2025
Goldman Sachs Acquisition
Acquisition of Industry Ventures