Lightspeed raises record $9B in fresh capital

In Brief

After a surge of VC investments from the 2021 bubble failed to yield beardown returns from galore task firms, constricted partners, specified arsenic endowments, pension plans, and sovereign wealthiness funds, began to funnel a greater share of their superior into a prime radical of established firms with proven way records.

The latest immense superior haul has travel to Lightspeed Venture Partners. The 25-year-old task steadfast announced Monday that it raised a full of $9 billion successful caller funds, the largest fundraise successful firm’s history.

At a clip erstwhile precise fewer companies person managed to IPO, Lightspeed was an aboriginal capitalist successful Rubrik, Netskope, and Navan, each of which person precocious made their nationalist marketplace debuts.

The steadfast has besides positioned itself arsenic a predominantly AI-focused investor. Lightspeed claims to person backed 165 AI-native companies, including Anthropic, xAI, Databricks, Mistral, Glean, Abridge, and Skild AI.

Armed with its elephantine caller fund, the steadfast tin proceed to marque monolithic investments into capital-intensive AI companies. For instance, Lightspeed reportedly wrote a $1 cardinal cheque to Anthropic erstwhile it co-led the LLM-maker’s $13 billion concern successful September.

Lightspeed’s caller superior is dispersed crossed six funds, including a $3.3 cardinal accidental money dedicated to follow-on investments successful its fastest-growing portfolio companies.

Other ample VC firms that person precocious raised tremendous superior pools see Founders Fund, which earlier this twelvemonth amassed $4.6 billion for a maturation fund; General Catalyst’s $8 billion superior haul and Andreessen Horowitz’s $7.2 billion, some secured successful 2024.

Meanwhile, younger and smaller VC firms are struggling to pull caller funds. According to PitchBook data, 2025 is connected gait to grounds the fewest VC money closings successful the past 10 years.

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