Benchmark is raising its first growth fund as part of a $2B capital raise

Benchmark Capital, the legendary Silicon Valley VC firm known for early stage investments in eBay, Snap, Uber, and Twitter, is breaking its signature tradition: keeping its funds at $425 million and only supporting small startups. After more than two decades of limiting its holdings to that amount or less, the stock closed $2 billion in commitments across two new funds, including a $1.25 billion vehicle dedicated to later investments, according to the Wall Street Journal.

While the portfolio sizes of many investment firms have ballooned into the trillions of dollars over the past decade, Benchmark has stuck to the strategy that helped make it legendary. By strictly selecting and taking a large stake—typically 20%—in every startup the company supports, it has maintained a model designed to maximize returns for limited partners.

However, Benchmark’s small fund sizes may prevent the company from investing in expensive AI startups, especially basic model makers, whose round sizes often reach hundreds of millions. As a result, the company has not yet invested in Anthropic, OpenAI, or any other capital-intensive AI labs, such as Periodic Labs, Reflection AI, or Recursive Superintelligence.

Benchmark’s new $750 million fund will give the firm more check-writing power in an environment where rates are rising sharply. While the firm typically backs companies at the Series A stage, Benchmark has recently given itself more flexibility to invest in companies in other early stages of development.

In recent months, Benchmark has backed two Series B startups: Gumloop, a platform that allows businesses to build AI agents without writing code, and Monaco, an AI sales and CRM platform.

Benchmark general partner Everett Randle previously told TechCrunch that the company is looking to build “meaningful and deep relationships with entrepreneurs, and that can happen early in the company’s lifecycle, in plants, [Series] A, in [Series] B.”

The company dipped a toe into late-stage investment when it raised a $225 million special purpose vehicle (SPV) to participate in Cerebras’ $1 billion IPO round, as TechCrunch previously reported. Benchmark first led the chipmaker’s Series A in 2016. Cerebras held its IPO last month, returning Benchmark $3.25 billion for the IPO price.

That conclusion led the company to appoint a dedicated growth fund. That new vehicle will invest five to six grand in both existing portfolio companies and new ones, according to a person familiar with Benchmark’s strategy.

These two new funds are not the only changes to the Benchmark. In the last two years, the company has undergone a major change in its general partners.

In 2024, Miles Grimshaw left the company to join Thrive Capital. Then last year, Sarah Tavel—Benchmark’s first and only female partner to date—took a less involved role as a business partner, while Victor Lazarte left to open his own VC firm.

To replenish its ranks, Benchmark – which usually works with four to six general partners – added two new high-profile investors to its team: Randle, poached from Kleiner Perkins, and Jack Altman, brother of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. The moves suggest that even Benchmark, long defined by its resistance to growth, now sees the AI ​​era as requiring a different playbook — more money, more divisions, and new blood at the partner table.