What Menlo Ventures does

Menlo Ventures is a 50-year-old venture capital firm founded in 1976 and headquartered in Menlo Park and San Francisco, California. The firm manages $7.6B+ in assets and operates a multi-stage investment platform spanning three tiers: the Inception Fund (pre-seed/seed), the Venture Fund (Series A/B), and the Inflection Fund (growth-stage), supplemented by the $100M Menlo Anthology Fund — a joint vehicle with Anthropic backing pre-seed through Series A AI startups with $25K–$30K in Claude API credits and direct developer-relations access.

The firm's portfolio spans nine focus areas — AI, Bio + Healthcare, Consumer, Cybersecurity, Fintech, Infrastructure, Robotics + Hardware, SaaS, and Supply Chain + Automation — and includes 85+ IPOs and 170+ M&A exits across its history. Notable investments include Anthropic (cumulative stake ~$14B), Chime, Roku, Uber, Warby Parker, Gilead Sciences, Suno, OpenRouter, Higgsfield, Lovable, and Nourish. Menlo differentiates through an in-house Fuel Team that operationalizes go-to-market talent, BD, marketing, and corporate development for portfolio companies, and through annual proprietary research reports on AI adoption across enterprise, healthcare, and consumer verticals.

The business model follows standard VC economics — management fees on committed capital (typically ~2% annually) plus carried interest on fund profits (typically ~20%) — with the June 2026 $3B fundraise (the largest in the firm's 50-year history) materially expanding the management-fee base. Revenue is realized through portfolio exits (Chime NASDAQ IPO in 2025; Anthropic partial liquidity), and the firm's strategic positioning has shifted to "ALL IN on AI" anchored by the Anthology Fund and Anthropic partnership.

Name

Menlo Ventures

Legal name

Menlo Ventures

Website

https://menlovc.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1976

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Menlo Ventures is a 50-year-old venture capital firm managing $7.6B+ in assets across pre-seed through growth stages, investing in AI, healthcare, consumer, fintech, and cybersecurity startups, with the $100M Anthology Fund as its flagship AI vehicle.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

NAICS

Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (52394), All Other Financial Investment Activities (52399)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro primary industry

Early-Stage Venture Capital (Series A/B) (FSANAAAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Late-Stage Venture Capital (Series C+) (FSANAAAC), Sector-Focused Venture Capital (Vertical Specialists) (FSANAAAD)

Keywords

• Venture capital investing
• Early-stage funding
• AI startup investment
• Growth-stage capital
• Portfolio company building

Headquarters

HQ city

Menlo Park

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Venture Fund Management Fees & Carried Interest: As a venture capital firm, Menlo Ventures generates revenue primarily through management fees (typically ~2% of committed capital annually) and carried interest (typically ~20% of fund profits above a hurdle). The firm manages $7.6B+ in assets and recently closed $3B in new capital across two flagship funds: Menlo Ventures XVII (early-stage Seed to Series A) and Menlo Inflection IV (growth-stage Series B and beyond), signaling an expanding revenue base from management fees.
2. Anthology Fund (Anthropic Co-Invest Vehicle): $100 million dedicated fund co-managed with Anthropic that makes pre-seed, seed, and Series A investments in AI startups. Investments start at $100,000; carried interest and management fees accrue to the Menlo/Anthropic partnership on this focused AI portfolio strategy.
3. Realized Gains from Portfolio Exits: Realized and unrealized returns from successful portfolio exits. Notably, Menlo's early Anthropic stake (begun pre-product/pre-revenue in 2023, with a $750M bet in 2024 structured partly through a special purpose vehicle) is reportedly worth approximately $14 billion as of mid-2026, driving the firm's $3B fundraise. Other realized exits include Chime (NASDAQ: CHYM), Roku, Uber, Warby Parker, Rover, Poshmark, Gilead, and acquisitions by Microsoft (Fintool), Cisco (Astrix Security), Shopify (6 River Systems), Apple (Fleetsmith, Siri), Amazon (eero), Datadog (Eppo), Databricks (Neon), among others.

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Menlo Ventures is a venture capital firm that deploys patient, multi-stage capital into early-stage technology companies across AI, Bio + Healthcare, Consumer, Cybersecurity, Fintech, Infrastructure, Robotics + Hardware, SaaS, and Supply Chain + Automation. Capital is delivered through three programs — Inception (pre-seed/seed), Venture (Series A/B), and Inflection (growth) — augmented by the $100M Anthology Fund co-managed with Anthropic that gives AI startups frontier model credits, and by an in-house Fuel Team that operationalizes go-to-market, business development, talent, and corporate development work inside portfolio companies.

Product overview

Menlo Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm (not a product company in the traditional SaaS sense) whose "products and services" consist of a three-tiered investment platform — the Inception Fund (pre-seed/seed), the Venture fund (Series A & B), and the Inflection fund (growth-stage) — operating alongside a $100M Anthology Fund created in partnership with Anthropic to back AI-native startups. Complementing these investment vehicles is a research/perspective publishing arm that produces annual State of AI reports (Enterprise, Healthcare, Consumer) and LLM market updates, authored by partners such as Tim Tully, Joff Redfern, Deedy Das, Derek Xiao, Greg Yap, Johnny Hu, JP Sanday, Croom Beatty, Amy Wu Martin, C.C. Gong, and Sam Borja. Together the funds and the research practice constitute Menlo's externally-facing offering, with the Anthology Fund additionally providing portfolio startups access to Anthropic Claude models and credits, infrastructure partner credits, and a structured support program.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Menlo Anthology Fund: A $100 million AI-focused investment fund created in partnership with Anthropic to invest in the next generation of AI startups.
• Inception Fund

Products and services

• Menlo Anthology Fund A $100 million investment program co-managed with Anthropic that deploys capital into AI-native startups from pre-seed through Series A and provides portfolio companies with $25,000–$30,000 in free Anthropic API credits, frontier Claude model access, dedicated developer relations, quarterly deep-dive sessions with Anthropic leadership (President Daniela Amodei, CPO Mike Krieger), biannual demo days, and fractional workspace at Menlo's SF and Menlo Park offices.
• Inception Fund

Quantifiable outcome

• $7.6B+ assets under management
• +6 more outcomes

Named customers14 records

Segments9 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

AI capability3 records

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and flagship.

• John Muir HealthcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 24 June 2026John Muir Health is cited as a key customer partner deploying Assort Health's AI agents (backed by Menlo) across Epic and Athena architectures, achieving a 115% increase in administrative labor capacity. Menlo's investment in Assort Health enables this healthcare AI deployment.
• Anthropic (as LLM provider to OpenRouter portfolio company)coreTechnology or Integration · 10 June 2026Through the Anthology Fund and broader investment activity, Menlo-backed AI infrastructure companies (OpenRouter, Gimlet Labs) route and serve Anthropic's Claude models, embedding Menlo into the multi-model AI ecosystem.
• AnthropicflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Menlo Ventures and Anthropic jointly launched the $100 million Anthology Fund to back AI startups from pre-seed through Series A. Portfolio companies receive $25K–$30K in Anthropic API credits, direct developer-relations support, quarterly deep dives, and biannual demo days hosted with Anthropic President Daniela Amodei and CPO Mike Krieger. Menlo's first investment in Anthropic was in early 2023 (pre-product/pre-revenue); Menlo led Anthropic's $750M Series D in 2024 at an $18.4B valuation, with the stake now worth ~$14B.

Scale indicators13 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Sequoia Capital: Premier multi-stage venture capital firm investing from seed to growth across AI and enterprise. Sequoia is the closest peer to Menlo in stage breadth, AI conviction, and mega-fund capability, and is a frequent competitor for marquee AI rounds.
• Andreessen Horowitz (a16z): Multi-stage venture firm with deep AI thesis, large operating teams (a16z bio, infrastructure, apps), and ~$35B AUM. A16z is the most direct competitor for AI deal flow and the largest scale peer against which Menlo competes for founders and LPs.
• Accel: Early- and growth-stage venture firm with strong AI portfolio. Accel is a frequent co-investor with Menlo (Higgsfield, Modal Labs, Armadin), shares early-stage focus, and competes for the same AI-native founder pool.
• General Catalyst: Multi-stage VC with deep AI infrastructure thesis (co-led Modal Labs' $355M Series C alongside Menlo). Comparable in stage breadth and AI conviction, and a direct competitor for growth-stage AI rounds.
• Lightspeed Venture Partners: Multi-stage venture firm investing across AI, consumer, and enterprise. Lightspeed co-invested in Suno's Series D with Menlo and competes for AI-native consumer and infrastructure deals at similar stages.
• Kleiner Perkins: Historic Silicon Valley venture firm investing across AI, healthcare, fintech, and consumer. Kleiner co-invested with Menlo in Manifest OS and Armadin, and competes for the same enterprise AI and healthcare AI deals.
• Greylock Partners: Early-stage venture firm focused on enterprise AI and consumer. Greylock is comparable to Menlo's Inception/Venture funds in stage focus and competes for early-stage AI founders, particularly in B2B software.
• Index Ventures: Multi-stage venture firm with strong AI and consumer franchises. Index is comparable in early-stage focus and competes with Menlo for European and US AI founders, with similar fund economics.
• NEA (New Enterprise Associates): Large multi-stage venture firm with broad sector coverage including healthcare AI. NEA led Qualified Health's Series B alongside Menlo's Anthology Fund and competes for healthcare and enterprise AI deals.
• IVP (Institutional Venture Partners): Late-stage growth equity firm focused on AI and enterprise software. IVP co-invested in Suno's Series D alongside Menlo and competes for Series B+ AI rounds, complementing Menlo's Inflection fund.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/menloventures
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/menlo-ventures
• Facebookfacebook.com/menloventures

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles37 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments977 records

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Menlo Ventures