# Ilya Fushman

> Ilya Fushman is a Partner at Kleiner Perkins, one of Silicon Valley's most storied venture firms, where he invests in early and growth-stage companies reshaping enterprise software, infrastructure, financial services, and AI. Before VC, he was a senior product leader at Dropbox (employee #75) and a General Partner at Index Ventures. A trained physicist with a Stanford PhD and a Nature paper on quantum computing, Fushman brings rare scientific depth to the investment table - having backed transformative companies including Slack, Robinhood, Rippling, Harvey, and Loom.

- **Role:** Partner at Kleiner Perkins
- **Organizations:** Kleiner Perkins, Index Ventures, Dropbox, Khosla Ventures, Solar Junction
- **From:** Kazan, Russia
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** BS in Physics, California Institute of Technology (Caltech), MS in Electrical Engineering, Stanford University, PhD in Applied Physics, Stanford University
- **Known for:** Lead author on quantum computing paper published in Nature (2007) demonstrating quantum gates using photons and quantum dots, Published research in Science journal, Ranked #84 on Business Insider Silicon Valley 100 most influential investors list (2014)

## Career timeline

- **1981** — Born in Kazan, Russia
- **~2003** — Graduated from Caltech with BS in Physics
- **2007** — Published quantum computing breakthrough in Nature journal as lead author
- **~2009** — Completed PhD in Applied Physics at Stanford University
- **~2009-2010** — Early career: Built automation software at Rockefeller University biology lab
- **~2010-2012** — Director of Device Design at Solar Junction; led development of world-record efficiency multi-junction solar cell
- **~2012-2013** — Principal investor at Khosla Ventures
- **2013-2015** — Senior product/business development leader at Dropbox (employee ~#75); built Dropbox for Business and developer platform
- **2015** — Joined Index Ventures as General Partner - first new GP since 2010
- **2015-2018** — GP at Index Ventures; backed Slack, Intercom, Optimizely, KeepTruckin, CultureAmp
- **2018** — Joined Kleiner Perkins as Partner
- **2022** — Led Motive Series F investment
- **2024** — Kleiner Perkins announces KP21 ($825M) and Select III ($1.2B) funds
- **2025** — Rejoined Motive's board as company raised $150M Series F

## Achievements

- Lead author on quantum computing paper published in Nature (2007) demonstrating quantum gates using photons and quantum dots
- Published research in Science journal
- Ranked #84 on Business Insider Silicon Valley 100 most influential investors list (2014)
- Joined Index Ventures as first new GP since 2010
- One of Dropbox's first 75 employees; helped build Dropbox for Business from scratch
- Led Solar Junction to develop world-record efficiency multi-junction solar cell
- Backed Slack, Robinhood, Loom, UiPath, Rippling, Harvey - multiple unicorns and successful exits
- Part of Kleiner Perkins leadership team that raised over $6 billion across multiple funds

## Latest updates

- **2026-03** — Kleiner Perkins featured in Fortune as it raises $3.5B in new capital, with Fushman as a key partner
- **2025-07** — Rejoined Motive's board as the AI fleet management company raised $150M Series F
- **2024-06** — Kleiner Perkins announced KP21 ($825M) and Select III ($1.2B) funds focused on AI companies

## Links

- Website: https://kleinerperkins.com/people/ilya-fushman/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ilyafushman
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/ilyaf

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/ilya-fushman
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-05-09