# Dragoneer Investment Group

> Source: https://aiwiki.ai/wiki/dragoneer
> Updated: 2026-06-28
> Categories: AI Companies, Venture Capital
> From AI Wiki (https://aiwiki.ai), a free encyclopedia of artificial intelligence. Quote with attribution.

**Dragoneer Investment Group** is a San Francisco growth-oriented investment firm, founded in 2012 by [Marc Stad](/wiki/marc_stad), that invests in high-growth technology companies across both public and private markets worldwide. The firm operates as a long-duration crossover investor, backing companies as private startups and continuing to hold or add to those positions after they go public, using patient capital from endowments, foundations, sovereign wealth funds, and family offices. By late 2025 Dragoneer managed more than $30 billion in assets, and over the 2024 to 2026 period it became one of the most active institutional backers of frontier [artificial intelligence](/wiki/generative_ai) companies, leading or co-leading multibillion-dollar rounds for [OpenAI](/wiki/openai), [Anthropic](/wiki/anthropic), and the European defense-AI company [Helsing](/wiki/helsing).[1][2][3]

## What is Dragoneer Investment Group?

Dragoneer describes itself as a growth-oriented investment firm rather than a traditional venture capital shop. Its defining characteristic is a crossover mandate that lets it own the same business as a late-stage private company and as a public stock. The firm runs long-only public technology funds alongside private growth-equity vehicles, and it manages a multi-billion-dollar evergreen fund that can hold both private and public positions without a fixed wind-down date.[2]

This long-duration structure is central to the firm's pitch. Because its capital comes from patient institutional limited partners, Dragoneer can hold positions across the private-to-public transition rather than being forced to exit at IPO. In private rounds the firm typically writes large checks, often in the range of tens to hundreds of millions of dollars, and it frequently takes a lead or co-lead role in growth and pre-IPO financings. The firm's public-market activity is visible through quarterly 13F filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which disclose its holdings in listed technology companies.

## Who founded Dragoneer?

Marc Stad founded Dragoneer in 2012.[1] He holds a BA in government from Harvard University, where he graduated magna cum laude, and an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.[4] Before starting the firm he began his investment career at TPG Capital in its North America buyouts group, worked as a business analyst at McKinsey & Company and as an associate at Parthenon Capital, and served as a portfolio manager at the Investment Group of Santa Barbara from 2007 until that firm wound down in 2012.[1][5] Stad remains the firm's founder, managing partner, and lead portfolio manager. He was named to Fortune's 40 Under 40 in 2018.

Dragoneer is headquartered at the Letterman Digital Arts Center in San Francisco. The firm reported roughly 83 employees in 2024.[1] It has historically kept a low public profile relative to its scale, concentrating its capital in a relatively small number of high-conviction positions rather than running a broad venture portfolio.

## How does Dragoneer invest?

Dragoneer's growth-equity crossover style sets it apart from early-stage venture firms. Rather than seeding many small bets, it backs companies that already have proven traction and concentrates capital in a relatively small number of high-conviction positions. The firm runs long-only public technology funds alongside private growth-equity vehicles, and its evergreen fund can move capital between private and public holdings as companies mature.[2]

Because its limited-partner base of endowments, foundations, sovereign wealth funds, and family offices supplies long-duration capital, Dragoneer can hold positions across the private-to-public transition rather than being forced to exit at IPO. In private rounds the firm typically writes large checks and frequently takes a lead or co-lead role in growth and pre-IPO financings.

## How much does Dragoneer manage (assets under management)?

Dragoneer's reported assets have grown substantially over its history. The firm's 2024 Form ADV regulatory filing listed roughly $22.6 billion in regulatory assets under management, a figure that rose to about $25.6 billion as of December 31, 2024.[6] By late 2025 the firm described itself as managing more than $30 billion, a figure that includes a roughly $12 billion evergreen fund capable of backing both private and public companies, according to reporting by Axios in December 2025.[2]

The growth has been driven by a steady cadence of fundraising. Dragoneer closed a $3.8 billion private growth fund (Fund VI) in 2022, and in December 2025 it raised $4.3 billion for a new vehicle (Fund VII), one of the larger growth-stage funds raised that year and an outlier in an otherwise slow fundraising environment.[2] Earlier vintages span 2012 through 2019. The firm's limited-partner base is concentrated among endowments, foundations, sovereign wealth funds, and family offices.

| Fund / metric | Figure | Source and date |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Fund VI (private growth) | $3.8 billion | Closed 2022 [2] |
| Fund VII (private growth) | $4.3 billion | Closed December 2025 [2] |
| Regulatory AUM | ~$22.6 billion | 2024 Form ADV [6] |
| Regulatory AUM | ~$25.6 billion | As of Dec 31, 2024 [6] |
| Total AUM | more than $30 billion | Late 2025, per Axios [2] |
| Evergreen fund | ~$12 billion | Late 2025, per Axios [2] |

## What were Dragoneer's SPACs?

During the 2020 to 2021 special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC) boom, Dragoneer sponsored a series of blank-check vehicles under the Dragoneer Growth Opportunities name.

Dragoneer Growth Opportunities Corp (NYSE: DGNR) listed in August 2020 and raised about $600 million. On February 3, 2021 it announced a merger with CCC Information Services, the property-and-casualty insurance software provider, in a deal that valued the combined company at roughly $7 billion.[7] The transaction closed on July 30, 2021, and the company began trading on the New York Stock Exchange as CCC Intelligent Solutions under the ticker CCCS.[8]

Dragoneer Growth Opportunities Corp II (NYSE: DGNS) listed in November 2020 and raised about $240 million. It merged with the event-management software company Cvent in a transaction valued at about $5.3 billion. The deal closed on December 8, 2021, and Cvent began trading on the Nasdaq Global Market under the ticker CVT.[9] Cvent traded publicly until it was taken private again by Blackstone in 2023.

Dragoneer Growth Opportunities Corp III (NYSE: DGNU) listed in March 2021 and raised about $400 million. The broader SPAC market cooled sharply after 2021, and Dragoneer's later vehicles did not complete combinations on the scale of the CCC and Cvent deals.

## What AI companies has Dragoneer invested in?

From 2024 onward, AI became the centerpiece of Dragoneer's private investing, and the firm emerged as one of the most prominent institutional backers of the sector's largest companies.

In August 2025 Dragoneer led an OpenAI financing of about $8.3 billion at a roughly $300 billion valuation, writing a check reported at about $2.8 billion.[3][10] Reporting at the time noted the round was about five times oversubscribed, with some earlier backers receiving smaller allocations to make room for new lead investors, and that the position made OpenAI one of the single largest holdings in Dragoneer's funds.[3] Dragoneer also participated in OpenAI's October 2025 employee secondary share sale at a $500 billion valuation, and in the company's subsequent $122 billion primary round, which closed on March 31, 2026 at an $852 billion post-money valuation.[11][12] By late 2025 the firm had invested more than $3 billion into OpenAI across these transactions.[2]

Dragoneer was likewise a repeat backer of Anthropic. The firm co-led Anthropic's $30 billion Series G round, announced February 12, 2026 at a $380 billion post-money valuation and led by GIC and Coatue.[13] Three months later Dragoneer was one of four named lead investors, alongside [Altimeter Capital](/wiki/altimeter_capital), Greenoaks, and Sequoia Capital, in Anthropic's $65 billion Series H round, announced May 28, 2026 at a $965 billion post-money valuation.[14] The two rounds made Anthropic one of the most heavily capitalized private companies in the world.

In defense AI, Dragoneer led a roughly $1.2 billion round for Munich-based Helsing in May 2026, co-led with existing investor Lightspeed Venture Partners, at a valuation of about $18 billion.[15] Helsing, founded in 2021, builds autonomous defense software and the HX-2 loitering munition, and the financing made it among the most valuable defense-technology startups in Europe. The round followed Helsing's 2025 raise of about 600 million euros at a valuation near 12 billion euros.[15]

Dragoneer's AI exposure also runs through data and infrastructure companies. The firm has been an investor in [Databricks](/wiki/databricks) since its $400 million Series F round in October 2019, which valued the company at about $6.2 billion, and it continued to participate in later financings as the valuation climbed past $100 billion.[16] In January 2026 Dragoneer led a $400 million Series D for the analytics database company ClickHouse, announced on January 16, 2026.[17] In a statement accompanying that round, Dragoneer partner Christian Jensen said: "As models become more capable, the bottleneck moves to data infrastructure. ClickHouse stood out because it delivers the performance, efficiency, and reliability required for AI systems operating at scale."[17]

## What are Dragoneer's notable investments?

Across its history Dragoneer has built positions in many of the most prominent companies of the consumer-internet, fintech, and enterprise-software eras, frequently entering in late-stage private rounds and holding through the public listing. Its portfolio has included Uber, Airbnb, Spotify, DoorDash, Snowflake, Stripe, Slack, Atlassian, Alibaba, ByteDance, Instacart, Klarna, Chime, Discord, Roblox, and Duolingo, among others.[1] Within automotive retail software the firm invested $200 million in Tekion.[18] The table below highlights selected AI-focused investments where Dragoneer's round and role are publicly attributable.

| Company | Round / Year | Valuation | Role |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| OpenAI | ~$8.3B round, August 2025 | ~$300B | Lead investor (~$2.8B check) [3] |
| OpenAI | $122B round, March 2026 | $852B | Participant [12] |
| Anthropic | $30B Series G, February 2026 | $380B | Co-lead [13] |
| Anthropic | $65B Series H, May 2026 | $965B | Lead (with Altimeter, Greenoaks, Sequoia) [14] |
| Helsing | ~$1.2B round, May 2026 | ~$18B | Lead (co-led with Lightspeed) [15] |
| Databricks | $400M Series F, October 2019 (and later) | ~$6.2B | Participant [16] |
| ClickHouse | $400M Series D, January 2026 | not disclosed | Lead [17] |

Dragoneer's concentration in OpenAI, Anthropic, Helsing, and Databricks places it alongside firms such as [Andreessen Horowitz](/wiki/andreessen_horowitz), Sequoia Capital, and Greenoaks as one of the institutional investors most exposed to the value created by the [generative AI](/wiki/generative_ai) and [AI agents](/wiki/ai_agents) wave of the mid-2020s. Because much of this exposure sits in still-private companies, the realized returns depend heavily on future liquidity events, several of which, including potential public listings of OpenAI, Anthropic, and Databricks, were widely anticipated as of 2026.

## References

1. [Dragoneer Investment Group - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragoneer_Investment_Group)
2. [Scoop: Dragoneer raises $4.3 billion for new VC fund - Axios (December 15, 2025)](https://www.axios.com/2025/12/15/dragoneer-vc-fund)
3. [OpenAI funding round oversubscribed; Dragoneer leads - Fortune (August 1, 2025)](https://fortune.com/2025/08/01/openai-funding-oversubscribed-early-investors-new-partners-dragoneer/)
4. [Marc Stad - Stanford Graduate School of Business](https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/alumni/contact/alumni-association/about-alumni/marc-stad)
5. [Letter #93: Marc Stad (2023) - A Letter A Day](https://aletteraday.substack.com/p/letter-92-marc-stad-2023)
6. [DRAGONEER INVESTMENT GROUP, LLC - Investment Adviser Firm (SEC Form ADV)](https://adviserinfo.sec.gov/firm/summary/161443)
7. [CORRECTING and REPLACING CCC Information Services Inc. and Dragoneer Growth Opportunities Corp. Announce Business Combination - Business Wire (February 3, 2021)](https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210203005331/en/CORRECTING-and-REPLACING-CCC-Information-Services-Inc.-and-Dragoneer-Growth-Opportunities-Corp.-Announce-Business-Combination-Creating-Publicly-Listed-Leader-Accelerating-the-Digital-Transformation-of-the-PC-Insurance-Economy)
8. [CCC and Dragoneer Investment Group Close SPAC Merger - CollisionWeek (August 2, 2021)](https://collisionweek.com/2021/08/02/ccc-dragoneer-investment-group-close-spac-merger/)
9. [Cvent Lists on the Nasdaq as "CVT" After Announcing Close of Business Combination with Dragoneer Growth Opportunities Corp. II - Cvent (December 9, 2021)](https://www.cvent.com/en/press-release/cvent-lists-nasdaq-cvt-after-announcing-close-business-combination-dragoneer-growth)
10. [Founders Fund, Dragoneer Each Commit $1 Billion-Plus to OpenAI Deal - The Information](https://www.theinformation.com/articles/founders-fund-dragoneer-commit-1-billion-plus-openai-deal)
11. [OpenAI wraps $6.6 billion share sale at $500 billion valuation - CNBC (October 2, 2025)](https://www.cnbc.com/2025/10/02/openai-share-sale-500-billion-valuation.html)
12. [OpenAI raises $122 billion to accelerate the next phase of AI - OpenAI (March 31, 2026)](https://openai.com/index/accelerating-the-next-phase-ai/)
13. [Anthropic raises $30 billion in Series G funding at $380 billion post-money valuation - Anthropic (February 12, 2026)](https://www.anthropic.com/news/anthropic-raises-30-billion-series-g-funding-380-billion-post-money-valuation)
14. [Anthropic raises $65B in Series H funding at $965B post-money valuation - Anthropic (May 28, 2026)](https://www.anthropic.com/news/series-h)
15. [Daniel Ek-backed defense tech Helsing to raise $1.2B at $18B valuation - TechCrunch (May 11, 2026)](https://techcrunch.com/2026/05/11/daniel-ek-backed-defense-tech-helsing-to-raise-1-2b-at-18b-valuation/)
16. [Databricks' Growth Draws $400 Million Series F Investment and $6.2 Billion Valuation - Databricks (October 2019)](https://www.databricks.com/company/newsroom/press-releases/databricks-growth-draws-400-million-series-f-investment-and-6-2-billion-valuation)
17. [ClickHouse raises $400M Series D led by Dragoneer - ClickHouse (January 16, 2026)](https://clickhouse.com/blog/clickhouse-raises-400-million-series-d-acquires-langfuse-launches-postgres)
18. [Tekion Secures $200M from Dragoneer Investment Group - Tekion](https://tekion.com/blog/tekion-secures-$200-million-in-growth-capital-from-dragoneer-investment-group)
19. [Dragoneer Investment Group (official site)](https://www.dragoneer.com/)