(Bloomberg) — Coatue Management alumnus Michael Gilroy and longtime technology executive Gokul Rajaram are forming a venture firm, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
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They’re in early discussions to raise capital from anchor investors and have yet to name the firm, said one of the people, who asked not to be identified discussing confidential information. They plan to raise $400 million to $500 million for their debut fund, and will formally kick off fundraising in the new year, the person said.
The pair, who plan to make early-stage investments in fintech and software companies primarily in the US, have already begun discussing making potential investments in startups, the person said.
A representative for Gilroy and Rajaram declined to comment.
Gilroy, who oversaw investments in fintech companies including Arta Finance Inc., Melio Solutions Inc. and Pinwheel, was a partner at Coatue and left the hedge fund in January, according to his LinkedIn profile. Previously, he was a partner at Canaan and worked on investments in companies including Contentsquare and Hugo.
Rajaram, who’s on the boards of Coinbase Global Inc., Trade Desk Inc. and Pinterest Inc., has been a longtime executive at technology companies, having worked at DoorDash Inc., Square, Google and Facebook. Rajaram was an early investor in companies including Airtable, Cohesity Inc., Cockroach Labs Inc. and Figma Inc., his website shows.
Gilroy and Rajaram first met about six years ago and have invested alongside each other in companies including Mercury, Lead Bank and CloudWalk Inc., one of the people said.
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