Playground Global
VC / PE · Palo Alto · United States
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Profile
Playground Global is a venture capital firm based in Palo Alto, founded in 2015 by Peter Barrett, Bruce Leak, and Matt Hershenson, with Andy Rubin having departed in 2019. The firm is run by four general partners: Peter Barrett, Bruce Leak, Jory Bell, and Pat Gelsinger, the former CEO of Intel and VMware who joined in 2025. They bring deep technical expertise from their experience in software, hardware, and semiconductor industries, making Playground a distinct choice for deep-tech investments. Playground Global specializes in early-stage investments in deep-tech sectors, focusing on next-generation compute, automation and robotics, energy transition involving advanced nuclear power and modular reactors, and AI-augmented biology. The firm typically invests as a lead or first investor in pre-seed to Series A rounds, with historical investments suggesting multi-million-dollar check sizes. Total assets under management amount to $1.7 billion across its four flagship funds. Notable portfolio companies include PsiQuantum - utility-scale quantum computing, Agility Robotics - humanoid robots, Ayar Labs - silicon photonic interconnects, d-Matrix - AI inference silicon, and NextSilicon - reconfigurable compute. Past successful exits include MosaicML, acquired by Databricks for $1.3B, and eero, acquired by Amazon. Playground's portfolio focus gives them a strategic advantage in attracting follow-on capital and technical founders.
Contacts (2)
| Name | Title | Téléphone | ||
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| Partner | — | — | — | |
| Venture Partner | — | — | — |
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