Former Khosla Ventures partner Andrew Chung announced the launch of a new venture capital firm Wednesday morning that will focus on bringing U.S. and European technology to the developing world.
The Los Altos-based firm, 1955 Capital, has closed an initial $200 million in anchor commitments, Chung said in an interview. That money will go toward technologies that can help tackle social problems overseas, such as pollution and access to food, education and healthcare.
Chung has been connecting Western technology with the developing world for the past decade, first at Lightspeed Ventures and then with Khosla Ventures. For him, it s refreshing to break from the heard mentality he says governs most VC investing in Silicon Valley.
They re chasing after a lot of the same stuff, Chung said. Whether it s the next food delivery company, or Uber for X, or Airbnb for Y.
Chung is more interested in companies such as LanzaTech, which pioneered a process that converts carbon pollution into useful chemicals. Chung invested in LanzaTech while at Khosla Ventures, and still sits on the board. The company has offices in Illinois, China and India. Other companies he s worked with include San Francisco-based Solazyme, a renewable oils and bioproducts company, and EcoMotors, which develops new engine technology.
Chung says 1955 s efforts will initially focus on bringing new technology to China, with an eye toward eventually expanding to other parts of the world. China is a valuable market because it s often more willing than the U.S. market to take a chance on an unknown startup, he said. It s an openness born from necessity.
Whether it s energy technology or environmental technology, we need it here, he said. But places like China and India, where you can t walk outside without feeling uncomfortable from the air pollution…for them it s really a survival issue. If they can t address these environmental problems, there s a disturbance in society.
Chung, who was in China 13 times last year to service his portfolio companies, said his role is to guide Western entrepreneurs as they make the jump overseas. He can help them understand and navigate the Chinese market.
LanzaTech CEO Jennifer Holmgren described her company s success after working with Chung — including raising a $100 million fundraising round and partnering with Mitsui, SK, Siemens, and ArcelorMittal.
Andrew was instrumental in helping us avoid a more difficult path to commercialization by working with us to build trusted partnerships and business in China, she wrote in a news release, that now allows us to apply our technology to solve similar issues and create jobs back in the U.S. and other parts of the world.
Photo: Andrew Chung, 1955 Capital
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