Fund Led by PayPal, Airbnb Backer Kevin Hartz Targets $250 Million

Kevin Hartz, best known for his early, lucrative investments in PayPal, Airbnb and Pinterest, is raising $250 million for a new venture capital fund alongside former Coatue Management partner Bennett Siegel and Gautam Gupta, a former finance executive at Opendoor and Uber, according to two people familiar with the matter. The new firm, A-Star Partners, will invest in consumer and fintech companies from seed to late stage.

It’s the latest in a flurry of new funds, which raised a record $81 billion in the U.S. last year, followed by an additional $74.1 billion in the first half of 2021, according to financial data firm PitchBook.