Email
RSS
Twitter
Facebook
Facebook launches fbFund to invest in Platform developers
September 17th, 2007
| By Justin Smith | 11 Comments » |
Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg just announced at TechCrunch40 today that Facebook is launching fbFund, a $10 million venture fund to invest specifically in Facebook Platform developers. fbFund will be backed and managed by Jim Breyer of Accel Partners and Peter Thiel of Founders Fund; Facebook itself will not invest in the fund, but will apparently play an active role in managing it.
fbFund will grant between $25,000 and $250,000 per startup, putting it somewhere between a traditional seed fund and ultra-early-stage fund like Y Combinator. According to Facebook:
- The grants will not come with any conditions except that the grantee use the funds to build their company on Facebook Platform.
- Any individual or company is eligible, anywhere in the world can apply as long as they have not raised any formal venture funding.
- The Founders Fund and Accel Partners will have the right to fund these companies first, but beyond this, no equity or debt will be associated with any grant made.
- Anyone will be able to apply for an fbFund grant from the Facebook website. All proposals will be reviewed by the advisory council and then approved by the investment committee. The goal is to get decisions to potential grantees within the month that they apply.
- Initially, you can mail your business plan to platform@facebook.com. In coming weeks, we will set up an online submission process. Submissions are being accepted immediately.
- We want to see the most innovative and ambitious proposals for building a business on Facebook Platform.
fbFund’s charter board of directors includes Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook, Reid Hoffman, CEO of LinkedIn (often called a competitor to Facebook these days), Josh Kopelman of First Round Capital, and Rajeev Motwani of Google/Stanford. Zuckerberg has certainly allied with some very smart investors to direct fbFund.
fbFund marks a major development in the growth of the Facebook economy. The financial options available to developers building great applications and creating serious value on Facebook are increasing, and more investors are sure to follow. (Early stage Facebook-focused funds have also recently been set up by Bay Partners and Altura Ventures.) However, with the advent of fbFund, Facebook will of course now more than ever have to do a great job maintaining its credibility as an equal-opportunity-platform.
Exclusive In Depth Market Research Report on the Future of the Social Gaming Market from Inside Network
Download The Guide to Marketing Your Brand, Company, Product, or Service Inside Facebook
Strategic Facebook Platform Ecosystem Overview and Guide For Agencies & Brands
French / Français
Spanish / Español
Italian / Italiano
Exclusive In Depth Market Research Report on the State and Future of Virtual Goods in the US
Track Facebook's International Growth in 95 Global Markets with our Monthly Reports and Analysis
Inside Facebook analyzes 12 major Facebook marketing efforts from leading brands. Who comes out on top?
September 17th, 2007 at 7:52 pm
A facebook group — http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=5207867210 — for those interested in fbFund
September 17th, 2007 at 7:52 pm
I like reading your guys stuff but this post was basically a copy and paste job from techcrunch.
If you could expand on the last paragraph it would be a post worth reading. Don’t become one of those sites that just do copy and paste jobs off techcrunch. Off other stuff I’ve read you guys can do better.
September 17th, 2007 at 7:53 pm
By other stuff..i mean stuff you have written in the past.
September 17th, 2007 at 8:50 pm
you would not believe the electricity in the room when that was announced… The typing of those of us blogging in the first row AUDIBLY increased as Zuck was talking… Pretty amazing
September 17th, 2007 at 11:53 pm
[...] otro movimiento adicional viene a reforzar el papel de Facebook como plataforma: Mark Zuckerberg anuncia la creación de un fondo de diez millones de dólares, el FBFund, para el de…. Administrado en porciones de entre $25.000 y $250.000, el fondo servirá como financiación para [...]
September 18th, 2007 at 8:27 am
[...] are going to see a flurry of Facebook news in the next 6 weeks, and this is huge news from InsideFacebook this [...]
September 18th, 2007 at 5:46 pm
[...] Inside Facebook – Facebook launches fbFund to invest in Platform developers “The Founders Fund and Accel Partners will have the right to fund these companies first, but beyond this, no equity or debt will be associated with any grant made.” (tags: facebook applications platform socialgraph investment startup) [...]
September 18th, 2007 at 9:41 pm
fyi, to apply, email platform@facebook.com
September 21st, 2007 at 8:33 am
Video of Michael Arrington interviewing Mark Zuckerberg at TechCrunch40 including the fbFund announcement
September 21st, 2007 at 2:00 pm
[...] Alex wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptFacebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg just announced at TechCrunch20 today that Facebook is launching fbFund, a $10 million venture fund to invest specifically in Facebook Platform developers, along with Jim Breyer of Accel Partners and … [...]
July 21st, 2008 at 8:48 am
[...] Facebook hasn’t said much about fbFund since Mark Zuckerberg announced it last fall, that’s about to change this week: Facebook is set to announce the first round of [...]