Playground Global, a renowned early-stage venture capital firm, has secured $410 million in capital commitments for its Fund III, dedicated to investing in early-stage deep tech and science companies. This new fund propels Palo Alto-based Playground’s assets under management to over $1.2 billion.
Co-founder and general partner Peter Barrett, formerly a video game engineer, retains his coding habits and is recognized for providing Elon Musk his first job. The team, including tech enthusiasts Jory Bell, Matt Hershenson, Bruce Leak, and Laurie Yoler, shares deep scientific and operational backgrounds.
They focus on companies shaping the next wave of technologies in computing, automation, infrastructure, logistics, decarbonization, and engineered biology. Similar to its 2017 Fund II, Fund III emphasizes seed and Series A investments, ranging from $1 million to $20 million.
Playground often serves as an early or first investor, believing in the rarity of transformative companies. Notable exits from their portfolio include MosaicML, acquired by Databricks for $1.3 billion, and Velo3D, which went public in 2021 and contributes to Elon Musk’s Starship project.
In a conversation Barrett highlighted the challenging macro-environment but noted investor interest in enduring value over fleeting trends. Fund III broadened its investor base to include endowments, foundations, and family offices.
Playground stands out as an early-stage VC firm that deeply collaborates with its portfolio companies, often considered co-founders rather than just investors. They specialize in mitigating technical risks and capitalize on developed roadmaps to identify emerging technologies.
The firm pivoted from consumer to deep tech, recognizing their strength in underwriting technical risk. They invest across various deep tech sectors, including next-gen compute, AI/automation, infrastructure, engineered biology, and decarbonization.
Barrett emphasized the importance of testable hypotheses addressing significant problems with plausible success paths. Playground has already made several Fund III investments, including d-Matrix, Ideon Technologies, Amber Bio, Infinimmune, and Atomic AI. The firm sees potential in stealth-mode companies revolutionizing green metal production and semiconductor manufacturing.
Regarding Elon Musk, Barrett expressed a wish for Musk to focus more on electrifying the planet and space exploration.
