Which venture capital firm invested in WhatsApp's first funding round in 2011?

Sequoia Capital invested in WhatsApp’s first venture funding round in 2011.

In April 2011, Sequoia invested about $8 million for more than 15% of WhatsApp. Sequoia partner Jim Goetz reportedly spent months negotiating with the young messaging company before the deal closed. The investment supplied capital during WhatsApp’s rapid early growth while giving the startup a prominent Silicon Valley backer.

WhatsApp had been incorporated in California in February 2009 by Jan Koum and Brian Acton, former Yahoo employees. The app initially focused on status updates and messaging, then expanded across mobile platforms, including iPhone, BlackBerry, Symbian, and Android. Its early growth was driven largely by simple, reliable cross-border messaging.

Readers sometimes confuse the 2011 round with Sequoia’s later investment. In 2013, Sequoia invested another $50 million when WhatsApp was valued at roughly $1.5 billion. Facebook, now Meta, agreed to acquire WhatsApp in 2014 for $19 billion, producing an extraordinary return for Sequoia’s early investment.