VC firm DFJ probes sexual harassment charges against founding partner

[October 25, 2017]    (Reuters) - Venture capital firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson (DFJ), which has invested in Tesla Inc's SpaceX, said it is independently probing sexual harassment allegations against its founding partner Steve Jurvetson.

The company came to know about "indirect and second-hand allegations" against Jurvetson earlier this summer, a DFJ spokeswoman said in an emailed statement.

"We immediately opened an independent investigation, which is ongoing at this time," the spokeswoman said.

Technology news website The Information earlier reported that the Menlo Park, California-based firm has hired an external law firm to investigate charges against Jurvetson and had started the probe in August after rumors on his conduct with women. http://bit.ly/2yPuDkY

Jurvetson was not immediately available for comment.

(Reporting by Kanishka Singh; Additional reporting by Rama Venkat Raman; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier)

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