Early Cerebras investor Adit Singh joins Mayfield as infrastructure partner

Adit Singh was a spouse astatine Foundation Capital erstwhile helium helped root and co-lead the archetypal backing circular into then-obscure spot startup Cerebras.

By the clip Cerebras held its blockbuster IPO successful May, Foundation Capital held a astir 7% stake, making it the third-largest shareholder successful the company, which present trades astatine a valuation of astir $50 billion.

Singh present has a caller VC steadfast to telephone home: On Thursday, helium said he’s present joined the 57-year-old Mayfield arsenic an infrastructure partner.

At Mayfield, Singh volition put successful hardware, infrastructure software, cybersecurity, and carnal AI. He says it was the firm’s spot successful semiconductors that drew him to the role.

“If you look astatine Mayfield’s semiconductor portfolio, it’s astir apt the champion successful the marketplace close now,” Singh told TechCrunch, pointing to Mayfield’s investments successful Upscale AI, which was precocious valued astatine $2 billion, and Lumilens, which conscionable raised $700 cardinal astatine a $5.5 cardinal valuation.

“I’m a spot decorator by training,” Singh said. “My concealed condiment is being capable to look astatine immoderate workload and spot however it works from the exertion each the mode down to the transistor.”

He credits his inheritance successful electrical engineering to helping him admit the imaginable successful Cerebras 10 years ago. However, Singh didn’t instrumentality astir arsenic an capitalist astatine Foundation. In 2017, helium co-founded Neotribe Ventures, and aft spending 4 years starring the firm, helium joined an early-stage firm, Cota Capital.

Singh says helium decided to articulation Mayfield successful ample portion due to the fact that the size of effect infrastructure deals has ballooned successful caller years. While smaller funds often get priced retired of mega-seed deals, Mayfield’s $3 cardinal successful assets nether absorption allows it to constitute effect checks of up to $20 million.

Mayfield Managing Partner Navin Chaddha told TechCrunch that contempt knowing Singh for 15 years and sitting connected 3 startup boards unneurotic — including Upscale AI and unicorn AI startup Velaura AI — it inactive took immoderate clip to person him to articulation the firm.

“We person been talking for a agelong time, and the clip stars aligned,” Chaddha said.