More than 200 venture capitalists pledge support to Kamala Harris
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Mark Cuban on March 1 in Boston, Massachusetts. Photo: Brian Fluharty/Getty Images]
A group of more than 200 venture capital investors, founders and tech leaders pledged to vote for Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 election on Wednesday.
The big picture: The largely Democratic-leaning Silicon Valley investors, organized under the name VCsForKamala, represent billions of dollars in assets and appear to be standing up as a counter to the chunk of tech billionaires lining up behind Republican nominee, former President Trump.
Zoom in: The group includes billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban; LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman; Khosla Ventures founder Vinod Khosla; and Silicon Valley angel investor Ron Conway.
- "We are pro-business, pro-American dream, pro-entrepreneurship, and pro-technological progress," the group said in a statement on their website.
- "We also believe in democracy as the backbone of our nation. We believe that strong, trustworthy institutions are a feature, not a bug, and that our industry - and every other industry - would collapse without them."
Our thought bubble via Axios' Scott Rosenberg: The list is like a who's who of tech's progressive wing — and a reminder that newly vocal Trump supporters in the industry, like Elon Musk, Marc Andreessen, Ben Horowitz and David Sacks — are almost certainly still a small minority of tech's wealthiest leaders and investors.
- The names on the list are largely unsurprising and were those expected to support a Democratic ticket. Additionally, many of them are generally supportive of women's rights and advancement in tech and venture capital.
Zoom out: As Trump chose Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), a former venture capitalist, as his running mate, venture capital billionaires like Andreessen and Horowitz lined up to support the GOP ticket.
- The tech investor class used to be solidly Democratic, with just a handful of Republican outliers. But its red camp is now growing, and throwing around its weight, Scott Rosenberg and Dan Primack report.
Go deeper: How AI helps political candidates raise more money
