Menlo Ventures announced a $3 billion fund—its biggest raise in 50 years—after a 2024, bet-the-firm $750 million investment in Anthropic that helped drive major returns. The firm’s stake in the model maker is now worth about $14 billion, with further wins tied
Menlo Ventures didn’t just place a bet on Anthropic. In 2024, it effectively held its breath while doing it.
On Tuesday, the firm announced $3 billion in funds—its largest raise in its 50-year history—saying the momentum behind its AI portfolio, especially Anthropic, helped power the decision. The stakes it took early now look enormous: Menlo’s stake in Anthropic is worth about $14 billion.
Behind that number sits a moment Menlo was reportedly “white-knuckling.” In 2024, the firm made a bet-the-firm $750 million investment in Anthropic, preemptively leading the model maker’s Series D. At the time, that round quadrupled Anthropic’s valuation to $18.4 billion.
The size of the bet is one thing. The way it was financed is where venture investors and founders would have felt the temperature change.
Menlo had been an early investor in Anthropic, before the company had a product. By 2024—long before Claude Code and Claude Mythos—Anthropic was already showing signs of real traction. It had landed a $4 billion deal from Amazon, and it was being actively pursued by venture capital firms. Part of the draw was who built it: Anthropic was founded by former OpenAI researchers. including CEO Dario Amodei and president Daniela Amodei.
Even then, writing a $750 million check in that moment wasn’t normal. The broader venture market had been rebounding from the post-pandemic VC winter. and big-money firms like SoftBank and Tiger Global were still nursing losses. In that landscape, checks on the scale of three-quarters of a billion dollars didn’t just appear.
Menlo’s structure made it even more unusual. The bulk of the deal—about $500 million—was organized as a special purpose vehicle. or SPV. an investment entity created to pool capital from multiple sources for a single deal. Menlo also contributed $250 million from its own fund and included contributions from Menlo insiders, bringing the total round to $750 million.
Since then, the practice of using AI SPVs has spread. But Anthropic’s relationship with that market has been tense. Last month, the company issued a warning that unauthorized SPVs and secondary markets claiming to sell its stock are “scams.”
For investors tied to Menlo’s authorized 2024 deal, the result was decisive. Menlo went on to invest in Anthropic’s Series E and F.
Menlo also built a dedicated pipeline for staying close to early AI companies. In 2024, it launched a $100 million startup fund with Anthropic called Anthology. That fund has since grown into capital deployed to date closer to $250 million. It has backed 60+ companies, and it has offered them support including access to Anthropic leaders and credits for Claude. The fund has also produced returns already: Graphite, acquired by Cursor, and Astrix Security, acquired by Cisco.
When you line up the moves—SPV-led Series D. follow-on Series E and F investment. then Anthology—it becomes hard to miss what Menlo was really buying. Not just a stake in Anthropic, but early-stage visibility across AI categories and technology. As its wider AI reputation grew. Menlo’s portfolio came to include AI-focused names such as OpenRouter. Higgsfield. Legora. Lovable. OpenEvidence. and many others.
Now, with a $3 billion raise announced on Tuesday, Menlo is preparing to do it again at scale—this time with the advantage of seeing how that earlier, high-voltage decision played out.
Menlo Ventures Anthropic SPV venture capital AI startups Anthology Claude cybersecurity investing Graphite Cursor Astrix Security Cisco
So they basically gambled 750 million and magically won 14 billion? Sounds rigged.
I don’t even get VC stuff, but isn’t Anthropic like the AI that’s gonna replace programmers or whatever? Menlo made bank while everyone else panics. Love that for them.
Wait it says Series D quadrupled valuation to 18.4B. So if it quadrupled, then the 3 billion fund is… also quadrupling? Unless I’m reading it wrong. Either way, feels like another Wall Street thing where they pretend it’s “momentum” lol.
White-knuckling?? Like they were scared it would crash? Meanwhile Amazon deal for 4 billion—was that announced way earlier or after? Cuz I swear I saw headlines about Amazon and Claude stuff and now it’s all connected. Also Menlo Ventures raising 3B in 50 years sounds like they’re trying to buy the whole future.