Park West Asset Management

Park West Asset Management is an employee-owned hedge fund sponsor based in San Francisco, California, founded in 1996 by Peter S. Park. Unlike traditional venture capital firms, Park West primarily operates in public equity and fixed income markets, employing a long/short equity strategy. The firm manages a substantial portfolio, with regulatory Assets Under Management (AUM) reported at approximately $4.7 billion as of March 2023.

While their core focus is on public market securities, Park West Asset Management has occasionally participated in private investment rounds. These investments are typically opportunistic and concentrated in mature, often pre-IPO, technology companies. Their involvement in such rounds is more akin to growth equity or late-stage private equity than early-stage venture capital.

For instance, Park West has been noted as an investor in significant late-stage funding rounds for prominent tech companies, including participation in Rubrik's $150 million Series D in 2017 and Databricks' $200 million Series F in 2019. These instances highlight their preference for established companies with substantial valuations, rather than providing initial seed or Series A funding.

Given its identity as a hedge fund primarily focused on public markets and large, late-stage private placements, the concept of a 'typical first cheque' in the traditional venture capital sense does not align with Park West Asset Management's investment model. Their investment sizes vary significantly based on market opportunities and the scale of the companies they invest in, making it challenging to define a standard 'first cheque' range applicable to early-stage ventures.