LP profile · Corporate

Cisco

Cisco is a corporate headquartered in United States (North America). Ranked #212 in the 2026 Dealroom Power Law LP Ranking by realised power-law score across its venture commitments.

Type

Corporate

United States

AUM

VC allocation

Power Law score

18,502

LP rank

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Historical Background

Cisco was founded in December 1984 by Sandy Lerner and Leonard Bosack, who were both working at Stanford University at the time.
The company was established to commercialize the "Blue Box" router, a device developed by Bosack that was instrumental in connecting the university's disparate computer networks.

As a publicly traded corporation, Cisco's investment capital is primarily derived from its corporate treasury, which is funded through its substantial operational cash flow and other financing activities.
The company's initial funding was self-financed by its founders, later supplemented with $2.5 million in venture capital from Sequoia Capital in 1987 before its initial public offering in 1990.

Cisco has a long and well-documented history of growth through acquisition, having purchased over 200 companies since its founding.
A significant recent transaction was the acquisition of Splunk, a cybersecurity and data analysis software company, for approximately $28 billion, which was completed in March 2024.

Cisco Investments, the company's corporate venture capital arm, primarily focuses on private equity and venture capital investments.
The firm invests globally in early-stage to growth-stage companies, with a strategic focus on sectors such as AI, Security, the Future of Work, and IoT.
Investments are directed towards startups that align with Cisco's core business, with the goal of fostering innovation and identifying potential future acquisition targets.