Over 100 Venture Capitalists Commit Backing to Kamala Harris

Over 100 venture capitalists, with prominent figures like Reid Hoffman, Vinod Khosla, and Mark Cuban, have made commitments to support Vice President Kamala Harris in the forthcoming U.S. presidential elections.

Under the banner of VCsForKamala, these venture capitalists are not only pledging their votes but are also raising funds for Harris’s campaign. The initiative, according to the organizers, is not tied to any specific political party.

The initiative’s website mentions that joining means backing “strong, reliable institutions.”

“We are advocates for the idea that robust, dependable institutions represent a benefit rather than a detriment, and without such institutions, our industry — along with all others — would fail,” is a statement seen on the VCsForKamala website. “The stakes in this election encapsulate this belief. Beyond this, we are committed to engaging in productive discussions with political figures and institutions open to dialogue with us.”

Efforts like VCsForKamala and similar tech worker movements such as Tech for Kamala are intended to counter the perception that the tech community in Silicon Valley is a supporter of former President Donald J. Trump.

Recently, Elon Musk of Tesla and X, as well as investors such as Marc Andreessen, Ben Horowitz, and David Sacks, have shown support for Trump, the Republic nominee. Musk has even formed a new super PAC in favor of Trump, with Sacks having addressed the Republican National Convention. Additionally, the Winklevoss twins, who co-founded the cryptocurrency firm Gemini, have contributed to Trump’s campaign with bitcoin.

Proponents of Trump in Silicon Valley argue that the Republican party and Trump are more beneficial for the startup landscape. Andreessen and Horowitz have expressed concerns that the policies under President Joe Biden’s administration have hampered tech companies with excessive regulation and unnecessary taxes, posing a threat to progress in the domains of AI and cryptocurrency.

Throughout her tenure as California’s attorney general, in the U.S. Senate, and as Vice President, Harris has taken various stances on tech regulation. She called for the dismantling of Meta (formerly Facebook) in 2019 as a state senator. Furthermore, last year, she convened a meeting with tech CEOs including Sam Altman, Dario Amodei, Satya Nadella, and Sundar Pichai at the White House to discuss AI-associated risks.

Throughout her career, Harris has received support and commendations from tech leaders such as Box CEO Aaron Levi, Marc Benioff, Sheryl Sandberg, and Jony Ive. Notably, Hoffman, Laurene Powell Jobs, and venture capitalist John Doerr backed Harris’s previous presidential campaign, which she concluded in December 2019 to endorse Biden.

In efforts to galvanize backing amongst the Silicon Valley elite who have yet to pledge their support, Harris and her team have initiated an array of discrete lobbying efforts. According to The New York Times, Harris aims to embark on a fundraising journey to the San Francisco Bay Area in the upcoming month.

This strategy appears to be fruitful. As reported by NBC, Harris is on the verge of amassing over $100 million in contributions from tech supporters, including Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings, for her campaign, along with political action committees and so-called “dark money” organizations.