1 hour ago - Business

Benchmark raises $2 billion for new VC funds

Dan Primack

Illustration of a unicorn horn sticking out of a pile of cash. — Illustration: Maura Losch/Axios

Benchmark Capital has effectively closed two new funds: $750 million for its 12th flagship early-stage strategy, and $1.25b for its first growth fund.

Why it matters: Both funds are major departures from historical precedent for Benchmark, which has long been considered one of Silicon Valley's most successful VC firms.

Zoom in: Benchmark was renoun for keeping its flagship fund sizes at around $425m for the past two decades, and was one of very few top-tier firms that hadn't raised a later-stage vehicle.

The former reflects not just deal size inflation, but actual inflation. $425m in 2004 dollars works out to around $764m today.
The latter, which will make a small number of concentrated bets, seems to be an outgrowth of its Cerebras experience — where it invested $225m via an SPV, over half of which came from Benchmark partners.

News of the funds was rirst epofrted by the WSJ and confirmed by Axios.

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Benchmark raises $2 billion for new VC funds

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