Benchmark Capital, the storied Silicon Valley venture firm known for early investments in eBay, Snap, Uber, and Twitter, has closed on $2 billion in commitments across two new funds — a significant break from the firm’s signature strategy of capping its vehicles at approximately $425 million and backing only early-stage startups, according to TechCrunch.
The raise comprises a $1.25 billion growth fund dedicated to later-stage investments and a $750 million early-stage fund, marking the most substantial shift in Benchmark’s investment approach in more than two decades.
The decision to launch a growth fund was catalyzed in part by Benchmark’s experience with Cerebras. The firm first led the AI chipmaker’s Series A in 2016 and later raised a $225 million special purpose vehicle to participate in a $1 billion pre-IPO round.
When Cerebras held its IPO last month, Benchmark returned $3.25 billion at the IPO price — a windfall that demonstrated the value of maintaining exposure into a company’s later stages. The new growth vehicle will make five to six large investments in both existing portfolio companies and new startups. The larger early-stage fund, meanwhile, gives Benchmark more flexibility in an environment where early valuations have skyrocketed, and the firm is now open to writing checks from seed through Series B.
The fundraiser also comes amid meaningful change at the partner level. Sarah Tavel, Benchmark’s first and only female general partner, transitioned to a venture partner role last year, and Victor Lazarte departed to start his own firm. Benchmark added Everett Randle, poached from Kleiner Perkins, and Jack Altman, brother of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. Despite the firm’s historically cautious stance on capital-intensive AI, Benchmark has been active in the space — backing Sierra, Legora, Mercor, Fireworks, Cursor, Gumloop, and Monaco, and leading a $75 million round in Manus, the AI agent platform Meta agreed to acquire for roughly $2 billion before Chinese regulators blocked the deal.
