XG Ventures

XG Ventures was a venture capital firm based in Menlo Park, California, founded in 2009 by former Google executives Peter R. Johnson and Mike Gupta. The firm focused exclusively on early-stage investments within the consumer internet sector, encompassing mobile, video, gaming, social media, and online media companies. XG Ventures operated with a single fund, XG Ventures Fund I, which successfully raised $10 million in 2010, primarily from institutional investors and high-net-worth individuals.

The firm's investment strategy centered on providing seed and early-stage capital to promising startups. XG Ventures typically deployed initial checks ranging from $250,000 to $500,000, often participating in larger seed rounds alongside other investors. Their approach was hands-on, leveraging the founders' extensive experience in building and scaling consumer products at Google to provide strategic guidance to their portfolio companies. This focused strategy allowed them to be highly selective and deeply involved with a concentrated number of ventures.

Despite its relatively small fund size and limited operational lifespan—the firm became inactive after deploying its capital, around 2012-2013—XG Ventures achieved remarkable success with its portfolio. The firm made approximately 14 investments, with several notable companies achieving significant exits. Among their most prominent investments were Instagram, which was acquired by Facebook for $1 billion; Path, acquired by Kakao; Hipmunk, acquired by Concur; and Posterous, acquired by Twitter. These successful exits underscore XG Ventures' acumen in identifying and backing transformative consumer internet companies at their nascent stages, delivering outsized returns for their limited partners.