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Playground Global

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Playground Global, LLC
Company typePrivate
IndustryHardware
Venture Capital
Founded2015
HeadquartersPalo Alto, CA
Key people
  • Peter Barrett
  • Matt Hershenson
  • Bruce Leak
  • Jory Bell
  • Laurie Yoler
WebsiteOfficial website

Playground Global is an early-stage venture capital firm that invests in deep tech and assists startups with software, hardware, machine learning, marketing, talent and design.[1][2][3] The company was founded in 2015 by Andy Rubin, Peter Barrett, Matt Hershenson and Bruce Leak.[4] Playground offers startups support with engineering, distribution, manufacturing and financing in exchange for equity.[3]

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.[5] His smartphone company, Essential Products, remained under the Playground umbrella.[6] The next month, Laurie Yoler joined as Playground's first female general partner; she was already serving on the boards of Bose, Tesla and Church & Dwight, among others.[7] Rubin's Essential Products company failed in February 2020, prompting a rebuild of Playground Global.[7][8]

Significant investments

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Playground Global has raised $800 million across two funds,[9] 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.[10][7]

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.[11] In 2017, Playground Global backed Owl Labs, a conferencing devices company, with $1.3 million in seed money.[12][13] 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.[14][15] Playground's Bruce Leak also joined their board of directors.[16] 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.[17] In November 2018, Playground Global led a $30 million Series B Funding round for RapidSOS, an emergency response data provider.[18]

References

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  1. ^
    • "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.
    • "How one moonshot VC approaches investing in the COVID-19 era". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2021-05-23.
  2. ^ 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 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. ^ "Disgraced Google Exec Andy Rubin Quietly Left His Venture Firm Earlier This Year". BuzzFeed News. 11 October 2019. Retrieved 2021-05-12.
  6. ^ 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.
  7. ^ a b c Primack, Dan. "Building a new Playground Global, after Andy Rubin". Axios. Retrieved 2021-05-23.
  8. ^ Primack, Dan; Fried, Ina (February 12, 2020). "Android founder's next phone company goes bust". Axios. Retrieved June 23, 2021.
  9. ^ Schubarth, Cromwell (February 18, 2020). "Playground Global unveils new VC days after Andy Rubin's Essential powers down". www.bizjournals.com. Retrieved 2021-05-23.
  10. ^ "Andy Rubin's Playground Ventures is raising another $15M". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2021-05-23.
  11. ^ Fried, Ina (2016-08-09). "Intel is paying more than $400 million to buy deep-learning startup Nervana Systems". Vox.
  12. ^ Goode, Lauren (2017-06-21). "Andy Rubin-backed Owl Labs just launched a robotic video conference camera". The Verge.
  13. ^ O'Brien, Kelly J. (May 9, 2017). "Andy Rubin-backed Owl Labs launches, but tech is still a mystery". www.bizjournals.com.
  14. ^ "FarmWise Raises $5.7m Seed Round for Vegetable Weeding Robot". AFN. 2017-12-19.
  15. ^ "Playground is betting big on robots". TechCrunch.
  16. ^ "Funding Snapshot: Farming Equipment Startup FarmWise Gathers $5.7 Million in Seed Round". Wall Street Journal. 2017-12-20. ISSN 0099-9660.
  17. ^ "Relativity closes $35 million Series B round". SpaceNews. 2018-03-27.
  18. ^ "RapidSOS, an emergency response data provider, raises $30M as it grows from 10K users to 250M – TechCrunch". 6 November 2018.
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