Guillaume Houze attends the 33rd ANDAM Awards Cocktails held at Les Jardins du Palais Royal on June 30, 2022 in Paris, France.
Pascal Le Segretin | Getty Images Entertainment | Getty Images
A version of this article first appeared in CNBC’s Inside Wealth newsletter by Robert Frank, a weekly guide for high-net-worth investors and consumers. Sign up to receive future editions directly to your inbox.
The top 10 family offices in startup investing collectively made more than 150 investments this year in everything from biotech and energy to cryptocurrency and artificial intelligence, according to a new analysis.
CNBC partnered with private wealth intelligence platform Fintrx to analyze which single-family offices made the most investments in private startups in 2024. The first list of its kind highlights investments by some of the world’s largest companies. Family offices range from Bernard Arnault’s Agrae Ventures to Laurene Powell Jobs’ Emerson Collective and Peter Thiel’s Thiel Capital. It also reveals names that are little known outside the secretive world of family offices (the private investment arms of wealthy families) but have become major players in the world of venture capital and private markets.
The most active family office so far this year is Maelstrom, the Hong Kong-based family office of American investor Arthur Hayes, co-founder of cryptocurrency exchange BitMEX. According to Fintrx data, Maelstrom has invested in 22 private startups this year, leading among all other family offices in the database. The majority of Maelstrom’s investments are in blockchain technologies such as Cytonic, Magma, Infinit, Solayer, BSX, Khalani, and Term Labs.
Ranked second on the top 10 list is Motier Ventures, Guillaume Houzé’s family office and venture arm. Houzet, a scion of the legendary French dynasty that owns Galeries Lafayette and other retail giants, co-founded Motier in 2021 to invest in tech startups.
Motier has invested in 21 startups so far this year. Its investments are primarily in artificial intelligence and blockchain, but also include publishing and advertising. Investments include Vibe.co, known as the “Google Ads of streaming.” Adaptive, a technology platform for the construction industry. and fintech company PayFlows. It was part of a $220 million seed round for French generative AI startup Holistic AI and a $30 million seed round for Paris-based AI computing company Flex AI.
Motier was also an investor in two funding rounds for Mistral, a fast-growing French AI company that raised more than $500 million last year and whose investors include Nvidia, Lightspeed and Andreesen Horowitz. are connected.
Tied for third place is Atinum Investment, a family office of an unknown family based in Seoul, South Korea, which invests primarily in software and AI. Hillspire, the family office of former Google CEO Eric Schmidt. and Emerson Collective.
Tied for sixth place, Teal Capital is an investor in Fantasy Chess, founded by 17-time world chess champion Magnus Carlsen, and Rare Fertility, a combination of Singapore-based fertility clinics. .
This list does not include investment amounts and may not include all transactions or all family offices as there is no obligation to disclose investments. Fintrx compiles data based on public and private sources from a team of researchers. For the sake of the list, a family office is defined as an investment vehicle or holding company for a single family or individual that does not manage funds for outside investors. Investments do not include real estate.
Overall, this ranking provides a rare insight into the growing power of family offices in the world of startup capital in terms of size, wealth, and deal sophistication. Nearly a third of startup funding in 2022 came from family offices, according to a PWC report.
AI became their favorite investment theme in 2024 and is likely to do so again in 2025. According to the UBS Global Family Office Report, AI is now a popular investment category for family offices. More than three-quarters, or 78%, of family offices surveyed plan to invest in AI within the next two to three years, the most of any category. As CNBC previously reported, Agrae Ventures, the technology venture arm of LVMH Chairman Arnault’s family office, has made a series of AI investments this year. Jeff Bezos’ Bezos Expeditions is also making some AI bets for 2024.
Family office advisers say serial investors like those on top 10 lists often treat startups as idea labs, where they can learn about cutting-edge technology and markets. They can apply what they learn to larger investments and their own companies.
For example, Schmidt’s family office, Hillspire, has made more than half a dozen investments in AI this year, and the power demands of AI computing could help Schmidt make big bets on energy companies. It became. Hillspire was behind a $900 million investment round in fusion startups Pacific Fusion and Sion Power.
While many family offices invest in tech startups through venture capital funds, the deals on CNBC’s list involve investments made directly by family offices in startups.
The largest family offices, such as Hillspire, Teal, and Agrae, have growing teams of transactional and technical experts who can analyze investments and valuations. Smaller family offices and offices that don’t specialize in technology startups typically invest through VC funds. One of the biggest trends in family offices is co-investment. This means the VC fund leads the investment and the family office invests as a partner, often at lower fees.
Niko Mizrahi, co-founder and general partner of Pattern Ventures, which acts as a fund of funds for emerging executives and works with family offices, said he believes family offices are looking to invest in tech startups on their own. He said there was an increasing risk of Following the stock market decline in 2022 and early 2023, the valuations of many private tech companies have also fallen, so paper losses are piling up in the private tech market. A lack of IPOs, mergers and private equity acquisitions has also led to fewer exits and pent-up capital.
“Some family offices were not very disciplined and were drinking the Kool-Aid,” Mizrahi said. “I think they’ve overextended themselves and gotten a little too eager to chase the wave of ventures. There’s going to be some wrap-ups, and there’s going to be some companies that disappear.”
Mizrahi said the best strategy, especially for small family offices, is to team up with an experienced manager with expertise in tech startups.
“It’s really hard to get the best deals and generate the best profits when you’re not working on something full-time and giving your 100% attention,” he says. “You really have to do it with your partners. Companies that are doing networking, due diligence, background checks and background checks all day long.”
