Lerer Hippeau was founded in 2010 by Ben Lerer, who spent more than a decade simultaneously running Thrillist and later Group Nine Media while building the fund, and Eric Hippeau, former CEO of HuffPost. That combination of active media operating experience and deep New York networks shaped a deliberately 'activist' seed investing philosophy: rather than writing passive checks, Lerer Hippeau takes meaningful stakes and works hands-on with founders on branding and go-to-market strategy, having built its early reputation on consumer breakouts like Warby Parker, Casper, Glossier, and Allbirds before any of them were obvious winners. New York's largest seed fund by reputation and track record, Lerer Hippeau has since expanded well beyond consumer into fintech and enterprise software, backing more than 450 companies across nine funds with 12 unicorns, 10 IPOs, and 166 acquisitions, and now manages roughly $1.5 billion.
BuzzFeed's SPAC merger in December 2021 at a $1.5 billion valuation - Lerer Hippeau was an early backer of the media company, alongside earlier public listings for Warby Parker and Casper