# Kevin Efrusy

> Kevin Efrusy is a Stanford-trained engineer-turned-entrepreneur-turned-venture-capitalist best known for personally sourcing Accel's $12.2M Series A investment in Facebook in 2005 - widely cited as one of the most profitable VC bets in history. A former co-founder of Corio (SaaS pioneer, IPO'd, acquired by IBM) and first CEO of IronPlanet, Efrusy joined Accel in 2003 and ranked #6 on the Forbes Midas List in 2011. He pioneered Accel's Latin America investment thesis after a year-long family sabbatical across South Africa, Brazil, and Japan in 2012, and has since backed unicorns including QuintoAndar ($5.1B), Gympass ($2.2B), and Nuvemshop ($3.1B). He transitioned to Emeritus Partner at Accel in 2019 and continues as an active angel investor and philanthropist through the Efrusy Family Foundation.

- **Role:** Emeritus Partner at Accel
- **Organizations:** Accel, Efrusy Family Foundation, Latin American Leadership Academy (LALA), IronPlanet, Corio
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** B.S. in Electrical Engineering, Stanford University, M.S. in Electrical Engineering, Stanford University, B.A. in Economics, Stanford University, MBA (Arjay Miller Fellow), Stanford Graduate School of Business
- **Known for:** Sourced and led Accel's $12.2M Series A investment in Facebook (2005) - one of the most profitable VC investments in history, Ranked #6 on Forbes Midas List of Top 100 Tech Investors (2011), Co-founded Corio, an early SaaS pioneer that went public on NASDAQ and was acquired by IBM (2005)

## Career timeline

- **Early 1990s** — Graduated Stanford with degrees in Electrical Engineering (BS/MS) and Economics
- **1993-1997** — Strategy consultant at Bain & Company and Monitor Group
- **1997** — Junior product manager at Zip2, Elon Musk's first company
- **1997-1999** — Stanford GSB MBA as Arjay Miller Fellow
- **1999** — Co-founded Corio, an application service provider (ASP) / early SaaS company
- **2000** — Corio went public on NASDAQ
- **2001** — Co-founded and served as first CEO of IronPlanet, online heavy equipment marketplace
- **2003** — Joined Accel Partners as General Partner; also served twice as EIR at Kleiner Perkins
- **2005** — Personally sourced and led Accel's $12.2M Series A investment in Facebook
- **2005** — IBM acquired Corio
- **2011** — Ranked #6 on Forbes Midas List of Top 100 Tech Investors
- **2012** — Led year-long family sabbatical across South Africa, Brazil, and Japan
- **2012** — Co-founded Efrusy Family Foundation with wife Molly
- **2012** — Launched Accel's Latin America investment initiative
- **2019** — Transitioned to Emeritus Partner at Accel
- **2019-present** — Active angel investor in Latin American startups and philanthropist

## Achievements

- Sourced and led Accel's $12.2M Series A investment in Facebook (2005) - one of the most profitable VC investments in history
- Ranked #6 on Forbes Midas List of Top 100 Tech Investors (2011)
- Co-founded Corio, an early SaaS pioneer that went public on NASDAQ and was acquired by IBM (2005)
- Founded IronPlanet as first CEO, growing it to $200M+ in annual gross merchandise sales
- Pioneered Accel's Latin America investment initiative, backing unicorns QuintoAndar ($5.1B), Gympass ($2.2B), and Nuvemshop ($3.1B)
- Backed Groupon as lead investor and board director
- Led investments in SpringSource (acquired by VMware) and XenSource (acquired by Citrix)
- Co-founded Efrusy Family Foundation, granting $2.6M+ annually to youth leadership and global development
- Founding donor of Latin American Leadership Academy (LALA)

## Latest updates

- **2026-03** — Azos (Brazilian insurtech) closed $24.24M Series B round with Kevin's participation as angel investor
- **2026-04** — Flash (Brazilian HR benefits platform) acquired by Turbo Partners; Kevin was an early backer
- **2019-11** — Transitioned from active General Partner to Emeritus Partner at Accel alongside Theresia Gouw

## Links

- Website: https://www.accel.com/team/kevin-efrusy
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevin-efrusy-5395bb/
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/kefrusy

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/kevin-efrusy
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-05-05