Sequoia Capital led Google’s Series A funding round in 1999, jointly with Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.
The $25 million equity round was announced on June 7, 1999, when Google was still a young Stanford-born search company led by Larry Page and Sergey Brin. Sequoia general partner Michael Moritz and Kleiner Perkins partner John Doerr joined Google’s board, giving the startup both capital and influential Silicon Valley guidance.
A common mix-up is Google’s earlier 1998 financing. Andy Bechtolsheim wrote Google a $100,000 check before the company was formally incorporated, and other angel investors—including David Cheriton and Ram Shriram—also contributed early money. That seed funding was not the Series A.
The two venture firms reportedly invested $12.5 million each. Sequoia’s investment also helped prompt Page and Brin to recruit an experienced chief executive, eventually leading to Eric Schmidt’s appointment in 2001. Google went public in 2004.