Al Gore’s investment firm backs start-up created by Facebook co-founder
Asana raised US$75 million in a round led by Generation Investment Management
By Ari Levy
Former Vice President Al Gore’s investment firm is making a big bet on one of the creators of Facebook.
Asana, a software company headed by Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz, said on Tuesday that it raised US$75 million in a financing round led by Generation Investment Management.
Generation, which Gore co-founded in 2004, invests globally and focuses on what it calls “sustainable business practices.” Asana develops cloud-based project management software used by teams.
“Asana offers its customers a strong value proposition for work management, rooted in transparency and productivity, while fundamentally reducing resource inefficiencies and busy work,” said Colin le Duc, one of Generation’s founders, in a statement.
Moskovitz, who was one of Zuckerberg’s roommates at Harvard, left Facebook in 2008 to start Asana. The company is also backed by Y Combinator and Founders Fund, the venture firm led by early Facebook backer Peter Thiel .
While Gore doesn’t focus specifically on tech, he’s had plenty of exposure to Silicon Valley. He’s a board member at Apple and has long had ties to venture firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, which still lists him as a senior partner.
Moskovitz and fellow Asana co-founder Justin Rosenstein said in Tuesday’s statement that, “we have both greatly admired Al Gore and the Generation team for their sustainability leadership in the business and financial community.”
