It was a fine year to be a Silicon Valley investor.
And it was an even better year to be an early employee of some select Bay Area firms who had solid IPOs in 2014.
A total of 35 companies backed by venture capital doubled in value -- or gained even more -- after going public in 2014, according to the Silicon Valley Business Journal.
Lending Club, the credit marketplace company, had the biggest IPO at $1 billion, the newspaper reported, for a year-end gain of 69 percent.
Compare that to TubeMogul, which gained 240.4 percent after the video advertising firm went public on July 18.
The other top gains in 2014:
Avalance Biotechnologies, IPO at $17, ended the year at $54 for a gain of 217.6 percent;
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Zendesk, IPO at $9, ended the year at $24.37 for a gain of 170.8 percent;
GoPro, IPO at $24, ended the year at $63.22 for a gain of 164.3 percent.
Atara Biotherapeutics, IPO at $11, ended the year at $26.75 for a gain of 143.2 percent.
