Thrive Capital Raises $150 Million Fund, Bolstering Profile

Thrive Capital, a venture capital firm based in Manhattan and run by Joshua Kushner, has raised $150 million for its latest fund as it seeks to raise its profile and become more competitive against larger firms.

The firm spent about 10 weeks raising the fund, receiving commitments from new and existing limited partners, a group that includes Princeton University, Hall Capital Partners, the Wellcome Trust and Peter Thiel, an early backer of Facebook.

The fund, which was oversubscribed, will operate under a broad mandate, with the flexibility to pursue early or later stage start-ups in the Internet sector. In total, Thrive has raised about $200 million across three funds.

“Thrive is opportunity driven,” Mr. Kushner, 27, said in an interview by phone. “We invest in assets as opposed to stage or geography.”

Mr. Kushner, son of the real estate magnate Charles Kushner and brother of Jared Kushner, owner of The New York Observer, has spent the last three years investing in social and e-commerce Internet start-ups.

He co-founded Vostu, a Brazilian social game company. He was also an early backer of Fab.com, a flash sales site that recently raised $105 million; Hot Potato, which was sold to Facebook; and GroupMe, a messaging service acquired by Skype last year.

His firm was also one of the lead investors in Instagram's $50 million financing round in April. The investment, which valued the photo-sharing service at half a billion dollars, was closed mere days before Facebook purchased the company for roughly $1 billion. However, the value of the deal, a combination of cash and stock, has since fallen as Facebook's stock price declined sharply.

Though Mr. Kushner says he recognizes the weakness in the I.P.O. market, he remains bullish on the technology sector and the disruptive power of the Internet. And while Thrive has largely been defined by its consumer Internet plays, he said he was willing to invest in a broad array of start-ups, in the United States, Latin America or elsewhere.

“Many see the way the Internet has already transformed our daily lives and conclude that most of the change that was going to happen already has.” he said. “I am of the belief that it is only the beginning.”

The Wall Street Journal had earlier reported that Thrive was seeking to raise $150 million.