Brian Singerman’s new fund has a twist, and Peter Thiel as a big backer

Former Founders Fund general partner Brian Singerman, alongside Quiet Capital's co-founder and managing partner Lee Linden, is on a mission to raise over $500 million for an ambitious new investment vehicle named GPx. Sources close to the initiative revealed to TechCrunch that a considerable portion, potentially up to 50%, of GPx's capital will be sourced from Peter Thiel, a co-founder of Founders Fund. GPx is set to implement a unique investment strategy that diverges from conventional venture capital practices. Approximately 20% of the fund's capital will be allocated to emerging venture capitalists focusing on pre-seed and seed-stage startups. The remaining funds will be strategically invested in collaborations with these emerging managers to support later-stage investments, primarily at the Series B level. This dual approach marks a departure from the traditional model where venture firms channel all their capital directly into startups. Instead, GPx is embracing a fund-of-funds strategy, which involves investing a part of its capital into a diverse portfolio of other funds, rather than solely in startups. While this method offers limited partners an easier avenue to access less mainstream firms, it also comes with the downside of incurring double fees—from both the fund-of-funds and the funds it invests in. Despite a reported 16-year low in capital raised by fund-of-funds last year, as noted by PitchBook, Singerman and Linden are confident that their established reputations, extensive networks, and a hybrid strategy will attract limited partners to invest in GPx. The duo's approach comes at a time when many top investors from large venture firms are seeking more flexible and specialized investment opportunities, prompting them to leave established entities to create their own firms. GPx aims to capitalize on this trend by identifying and supporting strong early-stage companies, thus enabling Singerman and Linden to co-lead later-stage investments in the most successful enterprises of their emerging manager partners. A key advantage of GPx's model lies in its ability to assist early-stage VCs in exercising their pro-rata rights during later funding rounds, such as Series A and B. Typically, the size of their funds limits these VCs from maintaining their ownership stakes in high-performing companies. When opportunities arise, smaller VCs often find themselves scrambling to raise special purpose vehicles from their existing partners, a process that can be lengthy and leaves room for competitors to seize valuable equity positions. With GPx's support, emerging funds can not only uphold their ownership but also take the lead in subsequent funding rounds. While the Information previously covered the launch of GPx, it lacked specifics about its target size and strategic details. Attempts to reach Singerman and Linden for additional comments were unsuccessful.