William Draper
Founder and Co-Chair @ Draper Richards
Palo Alto, United States
William Draper is a seed investor at Draper Richards in Palo Alto focused on Mobile and Sports. With over forty years of experience, William H. Draper III is one of the West Coast's first venture capitalists. He is General Partner of Draper Richards L.P., a venture capital fund focusing on early-stage technology companies in the U.S., and Draper International, a venture capital fund investing in private companies with operations in theU.S. and India. He also serves as Co-Chairman of the Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation, a venture philanthropy firm focused on start-up non-profit organizations promoting social change. Recently, he authored the book, The Startup Game: Inside the Partnership between Venture Capitalists and Entrepreneurs. Mr. Draper was founder of Sutter Hill Ventures in Palo Alto, California. During his twenty years as the senior partner of Sutter Hill, he helped to organize and finance several hundred high technology manufacturing companies. Mr. Draper served from 1981 to 1986 as President and Chairman of the Export-Import Bank of the United States. In 1986, he became the head of the world's largest source of multilateral development grant assistance, the United Nations Development Program. In addition to serving on many corporate boards of directors, Mr. Draper has served on the boards of the Atlantic Council, Harvard Business School California Research Center, Hoover Institution, Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford University, World Affairs Council of Northern California and the United Nations Association-USA. Mr. Draper formerly served as the Chairman of the World Affairs Council of Northern California, Chairman of the Institute of International Education, as a Trustee of Yale University and as Chairman of the Board of the American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco; he was a former Board member of Population Action International, George Bush Library Foundation, the Advisory Council of the Stanford Graduate School of Business, and the World Rehabilitation Fund in New York. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the President's Council on International Activities at Yale University. In 2005, he received the Vision Award from SD Forum and was inducted into the Dow Jones Venture Capital Hall of Fame. In 2006, he received the Silicon Valley Fast 50 Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Distinguished Service Award from the Institute of International Education. Mr. Draper has a Bachelor of Arts degree from Yale University, and a Master of Business degree, with distinction, from the Harvard Graduate School of Business.
- Total investments:
- 1
- Last investment:
- Lead investor:
- 0%
Last updated:
For AI agents: llms.txt
Industries William Draper invests in
Stages William Draper invests in
Countries William Draper invests in
Contacts
| Type | Contact | Validation |
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| Work email | ||
| Personal email | ||
| Work phone | ||
| Personal phone | ||
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Investment Focus
Industry
- Mobile 1 (100%)
- Sports 1 (100%)
- Fitness 1 (100%)
Investments
| Company | Description | Round | Links |
|---|---|---|---|
RecCheck, Inc.
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RecCheck is on a mission to create a more active world and to connect people through the power of pickup games. RecCheck is a mobile application with a check in system for parks that allows users to organize pick up games check the status of courts and fields. Users set up a profile and choose their sports. From there, users can challenge otherplayers around them and set up games. | $25K / Seed / Mar 01, 2014 |
About Draper Richards
Draper Richards is a venture capital firm investing in early-stage technology companies.
Draper Richards Contacts
| Name | Phone | Socials | |
|---|---|---|---|
Cynthia Lam
CFO
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Don Plaisted
Senior Associate
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William Draper
Founder and Co-Chair
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FAQ
What does William Draper invest in?
William Draper invests primarily in Mobile, Sports and Fitness startups, most often at Seed stage. Most of the 1 investments tracked by Shizune back companies in United States. The Investment Focus section breaks down every industry, stage and country in the portfolio.
How do I contact William Draper?
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When did William Draper last invest?
The most recent investment recorded for William Draper closed in Mar 2014. Shizune tracks 1 investments in total for this profile, including round sizes, stages and portfolio companies, all sourced from confirmed public funding rounds and refreshed monthly.
Is Shizune's investor data accurate?
Yes — every stat on this profile is calculated from confirmed public funding rounds monitored across hundreds of sources since 2020. This profile was last refreshed in Sep 2026 and is updated monthly. Spotted something off? Use the “Suggest an edit” link near the top of the page.
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