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Daniel Hoffer is an American entrepreneur and venture capitalist, known for his role as Co-Founder and previous Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the hospitality exchange service, CouchSurfing.[1][2][3] Presently, Hoffer serves as Senior Vice President, Corporate Development at technology startup Hayden AI, a Series C stage startup backed by TPG.[4]
Daniel Hoffer | |
|---|---|
| Born | Brookline, Massachusetts United States |
| Citizenship | American |
| Alma mater | Harvard University (AB) Columbia University (MBA) |
| Occupation(s) | Entrepreneur, executive, venture capitalist |
| Known for | Co-founder and former CEO of CouchSurfing Managing Director at Autotech Ventures |
Daniel Hoffer was raised in Brookline[5] and started his first dot-com company at age 15.[2] Since 1990 he has been actively involved in various Internet-related communities and businesses .[6] While in high school, Hoffer managed an online Bulletin Board System and an educational program designed to connect physically-challenged individuals with their peers in a digital environment.[6]
Hoffer earned an A.B. degree in Philosophy from Harvard University and an MBA from Columbia University.[2]
Hoffer co-founded Fuxito Worldwide, a venture-backed soccer website, where he hired Casey Fenton and Sebastien Letuan in 1999. Representing the company, he was featured on the cover of Inc. Magazine in January 2000.[6]
Hoffer's professional experience includes roles as a strategist at NEC Corporation, in sales at Siebel Systems,[6] and in product management at Symantec.[5] He later served at Concur (prior to its acquisition by SAP for $8.3B) as Head of Product for TripIt (and its associated product lines) and Head of Product for ExpenseIt.[7][8]
CouchSurfing
CouchSurfing was co-founded by Hoffer, Sebastian Letuan, and Casey Fenton.[6] The company was initially registered as a non-profit in 2003.[9] Hoffer served as CouchSurfing's Chief Operating Officer during its non-profit phase,[5] as well as Chairman of the Board.[10]
In 2010, after the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) denied CouchSurfing's application for 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status, Hoffer assumed the role of CEO. He subsequently joined Benchmark Capital as an Entrepreneur-in-Residence and transitioned CouchSurfing into a for-profit certified B corporation.[11][12]
In 2011, under Hoffer's leadership, CouchSurfing raised $7.6 million in Series A venture capital funding, led by Benchmark Capital with participation from Point Nine Capital, Gil Penchina, Michael Birch, and others.[13][9] Subsequently in 2012 CouchSurfing raised a $15 million Series B financing round from General Catalyst, Menlo Ventures, Benchmark Capital and other investors.
Other Ventures
In 2015, Hoffer became a Partner at Tandem Capital, a seed venture capital fund based in Silicon Valley.[7] Later, in 2018, he was appointed as a part-time General Partner at Speedinvest, an Austrian venture capital fund.[14]
After Tandem Capital, Hoffer joined Autotech Ventures as a Managing Director, where he was involved in the company's investments in SWVL, a private transit start-up with headquarters in Dubai and Cairo that later went public on Nasdaq;[15] BusUp, a shuttle platform in Barcelona;[1] and Bus.com, a charter bus service in Montreal.[16] These ventures in the bus industry, along with his subsequent senior executive role at Autotech Ventures portfolio company Hayden AI, have led to Hoffer being nicknamed "The Bus King."[1] Hoffer left Autotech Ventures in July 2023 to join on a full-time basis Hayden AI, an Autotech Ventures portfolio company with whom he had worked closely.[4][17]
Hoffer has made early stage angel investments in many high profile startups including Beanworks (acquired by Quadient), Branch, Firefly, Fishbowl (acquired by Glassdoor), Grove Collaborative (NYSE: GROV), Hayden AI, LoungeBuddy (acquired by American Express), Outdoorsy, and Trucklabs (acquired by Conmet). In 2017, Hoffer participated as an angel investor in the $30 million funding round for SpotHero, an online parking marketplace.[18] In 2020, he was also involved in the $10 million funding round for Preply, an online learning platform.[19]
Hoffer has shared his expertise as a guest lecturer at institutions such as Harvard Business School, Stanford Graduate School of Business, Kellogg School of Management, Columbia Business School and UC Berkeley Haas School of Business.[6]
Hoffer has contributed articles to Forbes and TechCrunch.[20][21] In his leisure time, he is a licensed martial arts instructor. Hoffer currently resides in Menlo Park, California.[12]
- BusUp (Director)
- Citian (Director)
- CouchSurfing International[6] (Director)
- Drover (acquired by Cazoo) (Director)
- Klearnow.ai (Observer)
- Marti (IPO) (Observer)
- Masonhub (Director)
- Mundimoto (Director)
- Pickup (acquired by PointPickup) (Observer)
- SWVL (IPO) (Observer)
- TripLingo (acquired by Travel and Transport) (Director)
- Trucklabs (acquired by ConMet) (Director)
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