Playground Global

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]

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

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

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
  2. Glaser, April (2017-05-19). "Andy Rubin's design lab Playground is finally bringing products to market". Vox. Retrieved 2021-05-23.
  3. 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. "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. 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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