8VC is a venture capital firm founded in 2012 by Joe Lonsdale, an entrepreneur and co-founder of Palantir. The firm manages over $6 billion in assets across multiple funds, investing primarily in early-stage companies across life sciences, healthcare, enterprise software, logistics, defense, and AI. Its team is drawn from entrepreneurs, engineers, and financiers, with an emphasis on bringing operating experience directly to bear on portfolio companies.
Beyond its investment activity, 8VC operates an in-house incubation initiative called the 8VC Build Program, launched in 2016. Rather than waiting for market solutions to emerge, the program actively creates and launches new startups from within 8VC when it identifies gaps. Since inception, the Build Program has launched over 20 companies, which have collectively raised billions of dollars in follow-on funding.
The firm's investment thesis centres on the belief that systemic inefficiencies in large, incumbent-heavy industries represent opportunities for technology-driven transformation. Its portfolio spans both externally founded companies and those originated through the Build Program, with the firm providing operational support alongside capital in both cases.