Family Office for Silicon Valley Elite Is Partnering With a Credit Firm

(Bloomberg) -- Iconiq Capital, the family office for some of Silicon Valley’s most prominent billionaires, invested with i80 Group, a firm that extends credit to startups. 

Iconiq, which has managed money for Mark Zuckerberg, Jack Dorsey and Sheryl Sandberg, is a main investor in i80, which plans to raise a $600 million fund, according to a person with knowledge of the matter, who asked not to be identified because the information isn’t public. 

New York-based i80 specializes in lending to early-to-midstage companies, which typically have to give up equity in exchange for liquidity and a fresh valuation. Not only is this appealing to the founders, but also to firms that make venture investments such as Iconiq, i80 founder Marc Helwani said. 

Iconiq may also partner with i80 to work with startups they’re invested in. The firm has also lent to companies backed by Max Levchin’s SciFi, Khosla Ventures, Union Square Ventures, QED and a16z, formerly known as Andreessen Horowitz. 

“Historically, if you wanted to grow, there was really one choice,” Helwani said. “There is an alternative where you can raise credit and that could be both very liberating both in terms of allowing you to grow and allowing you to not get diluted and retain more of your ownership.”

Helwani points to Henrique Dubugras, co-chief executive officer of fintech company Brex, who has said he regrets giving up so many shares in the company to venture capitalists. 

Iconiq, which has about $83.5 billion in assets under management, caters to financial and family office needs, such as arranging real estate purchases, private jets or tax planning. Its investing portfolio has included companies such as Airbnb Inc., Uber Technologies Inc. and Robinhood Markets Inc. 

Since its founding in 2016, i80 has made $1.3 billion in billion in credit commitments to companies including Capchase, Divvy and MoneyLion Inc.

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