Threshold, Formerly Known As DFJ, Targets $250M For Latest Venture Fund

Late Tuesday, Threshold Ventures (formerly known as DFJ) filed paperwork with the SEC disclosing its intent to raise up to $250 million for the recently re-formed firm’s latest venture capital fund.

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According to the filing, no capital has yet been raised by Threshold Ventures III L.P. However, it bears mentioning that many venture firms file Form D paperwork immediately prior to calling down capital from limited partners. Entities raising capital under Rule 506(b) of Regulation D, like Threshold is, have 15 days to file a Form D with securities regulators after receiving their first capital commitments. Threshold’s filing was dated July 23, 2019.

Threshold Ventures is an established early-stage venture firm, reborn under a new name and different management.

Threshold Ventures’s latest fund is co-led by managing partners Emily Melton and Josh Stein. Melton has worked off and on with DFJ for over 15 years, rising from associate to partner. Melton also served a stint as a partner at Mayfield Fund1 before returning to DFJ in 2014. Stein also worked with DFJ for over 15 years. Prior to working in venture, he was co-founder and chief strategy officer of ViaFone.

Originally known as Draper Fisher Jurvetson, or more frequently by its initialism DFJ, the firm rebranded to Threshold in January 2019 after its various founding partners departed.

Tim Draper currently oversees Draper Associates and the Draper Venture Network, evangelizes cryptocurrencies, and manages a for-profit entrepreneurship training program bearing his name. John Fisher is a partner at DFJ Growth, a separate venture investment firm that primarily focuses on late-stage transactions, as its name might suggest. Draper and Fisher left DFJ in 2013. Steve Jurvetson, current managing director of a new firm called Future Ventures, left DFJ in 2017 following allegations of professional misconduct.

Threshold Ventures’ most recent investments include continuous integration platform CircleCI’s Series D round, AI inference processor company Mythic’s Series B, and corporate leadership development company BetterUp’s Series C round.

Illustration: Li-Anne Dias