Draper Associates
Draper Associates is an early-stage, industry-agnostic venture capital firm founded by Tim Draper in 1985 and based in San Mateo, California. Best known as a first backer of Tesla, SpaceX, and Coinbase, it writes pre-seed to Series A cheques across deep tech, and has lately added water, backing 2 water companies across 3 deals as of 2026.
Compiled by Antoine Walter, (don't) Waste Water, from official filings and direct intelligence in Leviathan.
The take
Draper Associates is the original Silicon Valley dynasty fund. Tim Draper, a third-generation venture capitalist, started writing its cheques in 1985 from San Mateo and was a first believer in Tesla, SpaceX, Skype, Baidu, and Coinbase long before any of them looked obvious. Draper Associates bets on temperament over sector, a taste for the wild, the weird, and the world-changing.
Draper Associates added water to that list late and quietly. Draper is a generalist that backs any sector, from AI to defense to crypto, and in my Leviathan database it shows up with just two water companies across three deals: Nyad, which uses computer vision and AI to run wastewater-treatment plants, and VVater, a chemical-free electrochemical way to purify water.
Draper's two water bets share a shape: both are early, founder-led, and lean on a hard technical edge rather than a utility contract. For a newcomer that is the useful signal, because when a firm that backed SpaceX starts cutting pre-seed cheques (the very first outside money a startup raises) into water, the category has crossed from niche into something a generalist will chase. As of 2025 Draper Associates closed its eighth fund at $200 million of fresh dry powder, the industry term for money raised but not yet invested, so more of those cheques are coming.
Water Commitment Score
Compiled from official filings, third-party records, and direct intelligence from investors and founders, in Leviathan · recomputed monthly · as of Jun 2026.
How they invest
Portfolio · 2 water companies
Invests alongside
Highlighted = profiled on (don't) Waste Water.
Frequently asked
- What does Draper Associates invest in?
- Draper Associates is an industry-agnostic early-stage fund: it backs pre-seed to Series A startups across AI, robotics, biotech, defense, crypto, space, and deep tech. Water is a recent and small slice of that, with two companies on the books so far, both in water treatment and monitoring.
- Who runs Draper Associates?
- Draper Associates was founded in 1985 by Tim Draper, a third-generation venture capitalist who serves as Managing Partner. Andy Tang, who co-founded the affiliated Draper Dragon fund and launched the firm's first outside fund in 2014, is the other named partner. The team works from San Mateo, California.
- Where is Draper Associates based?
- Draper Associates is headquartered in San Mateo, California, in the heart of Silicon Valley, where Tim Draper has invested since 1985. The firm is global in reach, with affiliated vehicles such as Draper Dragon investing across Asia, but the flagship Draper Associates fund is run from the Bay Area.
- How many water companies has Draper Associates backed?
- Draper Associates has backed two water companies across three deals as of 2026: Nyad, an AI and computer-vision platform for wastewater treatment, and VVater, an electrochemical water-purification company. (don't) Waste Water rates its overall water commitment Committed, a mid-tier score for a generalist.
- Is Draper Associates the same as Draper Fisher Jurvetson or Draper University?
- No. Draper Associates is Tim Draper's early-stage venture fund. Draper Fisher Jurvetson (DFJ) was a separate, now-restructured firm he co-founded; Draper Dragon is an Asia-focused affiliate; and Draper University is his startup school in San Mateo. They share the Draper name and founder but are distinct entities.