Benchmark breaks growth-fund tradition with $2B raise

Benchmark raises – Benchmark Capital, long known for capping its fund size around $425 million and betting on young startups, has closed on $2 billion in commitments across two new funds. The package includes a $1.25 billion growth vehicle aimed at later-stage investing—plus cha

On a firm built around restraint, the shift is stark. Benchmark Capital—famous in Silicon Valley for early bets in eBay. Snap. Uber. and Twitter—has finally closed commitments of $2 billion across two new funds. including a $1.25 billion vehicle dedicated to later-stage investments. according to the Wall Street Journal.

For more than two decades, Benchmark kept its funds at about $425 million and typically backed only young startups. That discipline was never an accident. The firm’s model has relied on being selective and typically taking a large stake—often 20%—in each startup it backed. a structure designed to help its limited partners chase outsized returns.

But the market has changed in ways Benchmark’s old constraints struggled to match. Smaller. earlier-focused fund sizes have likely limited its ability to invest in capital-intensive AI startups—especially foundation model builders. where round sizes can reach into the hundreds of millions. In that stretch. Benchmark hasn’t invested in Anthropic or OpenAI. and also hasn’t backed other capital-heavy AI labs such as Periodic Labs. Reflection AI. or Recursive Superintelligence.

Where Benchmark has placed AI bets, the picture has looked less straightforward. The firm led a $75 million round in Manus, a Singapore-based AI agent platform. Within eight months of launching, Manus hit $100 million in annual recurring revenue. Later. when Meta agreed to acquire Manus for roughly $2 billion in late last year. it seemed like a clean win for the growth thesis. Then Chinese regulators blocked the deal in April. arguing the company—founded in China before relocating to Singapore—violated export control laws. Benchmark’s stake is now caught in limbo.

The new structure is designed to buy more room to move. Benchmark’s new $750 million early-stage fund is expected to give the firm more flexibility to write checks in a market where early-stage valuations have surged. While Benchmark has traditionally backed companies at the Series A stage. it has now given itself the flexibility to invest at other early stages of development.

In recent months, that broader early-stage posture has shown up in two Series B bets. Benchmark backed Gumloop, a platform that lets enterprises create AI agents without writing code, and Monaco, an AI-native sales and CRM platform.

Benchmark general partner Everett Randle previously told TechCrunch that the firm aims to build a “meaningful and deep relationship with the entrepreneurs, and that can happen relatively early in the company’s lifecycle, at seed, [Series] A, at [Series] B.”

Benchmark didn’t stop at early rounds when it needed experience with what later capital looks like. The firm also dipped a toe into late-stage investing by raising a $225 million special purpose vehicle (SPV) to participate in a $1 billion pre-IPO round for Cerebras. as TechCrunch reported earlier. Benchmark first led Cerebras’ Series A in 2016. Cerebras held its IPO last month, returning Benchmark $3.25 billion at the IPO price.

That windfall helped justify the growth fund itself. The new vehicle is expected to make five to six large investments in both existing portfolio companies and new startups, according to a person familiar with Benchmark’s strategy.

There’s another change running alongside the dollars. Over the last two years. Benchmark has shifted its general partner ranks in ways that reflect the firm’s attempt to keep up with a new kind of startup—one that may demand more capital across more stages. In 2024, Miles Grimshaw left the firm to rejoin Thrive Capital. Last year. Sarah Tavel—Benchmark’s first and only female general partner to date—moved into the less-involved role of venture partner. while Victor Lazarte departed to start his own VC firm.

To replenish its roster, Benchmark—which traditionally runs with four to six general partners—added two high-profile investors to its team: Randle, poached from Kleiner Perkins, and Jack Altman, the brother of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.

Taken together, the numbers and the personnel point in the same direction. Benchmark may have spent years resisting growth, but the AI era appears to be forcing a different playbook—more capital, more stages, and fresh blood at the partner table.

Benchmark Capital VC funding growth fund AI startups Manus Meta acquisition export controls Cerebras IPO early-stage investing Everett Randle Jack Altman Sarah Tavel Miles Grimshaw Victor Lazarte