Top 25 Silicon Valley Venture Capital Firms (Detailed) (2025)
- Team Ellenox
- Oct 24
- 10 min read
The heart of Silicon Valley beats through its venture capital firms. They are the partners who see potential before the market does and the ones who help founders scale ideas into global movements. These 25 firms have funded revolutions in software, science, and systems.
Firm | Website | Founded / HQ | Focus Areas | AUM / Latest Fund |
Sequoia Capital | 1972 — Menlo Park, CA | Consumer, SaaS, AI, Infra, Health | ~$50B+ | |
Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) | 2009 — Menlo Park, CA | AI, Crypto, Bio, Fintech, Consumer | ~$35B+ | |
Accel | 1983 — Palo Alto, CA | SaaS, Enterprise, Fintech, Consumer | ~$20B+ | |
Benchmark | 1995 — San Francisco, CA | Consumer, Marketplaces, Software | ~$700M/fund | |
Greylock Partners | 1965 — Menlo Park, CA | Enterprise, AI, Developer Tools | Multi-$B | |
Kleiner Perkins | 1972 — Menlo Park, CA | Enterprise, Climate, Bio, Consumer | ~$10B+ | |
Lightspeed Venture Partners | 2000 — Menlo Park, CA | Consumer, Enterprise, Fintech, AI | ~$18B+ | |
NEA | 1977 — Menlo Park, CA / NY | Enterprise, Health, Fintech | ~$25B+ | |
Founders Fund | 2005 — San Francisco, CA | Deep Tech, Defense, AI, Fintech | Multi-$B | |
IVP | 1980 — Menlo Park, CA | Growth, SaaS, Fintech | ~$8B | |
Bessemer Venture Partners | 1911 — Redwood City, CA | SaaS, Cloud, Fintech, Consumer | ~$20B+ | |
Battery Ventures | 1983 — Menlo Park, CA / Boston, MA | Enterprise, Infra, Cloud | ~$13B+ | |
Menlo Ventures | 1976 — Menlo Park, CA | AI, Enterprise, Consumer | ~$5B+ | |
GGV Capital | 2000 — Menlo Park, CA / Asia | Enterprise, Fintech, Consumer | ~$9B+ | |
First Round Capital | 2004 — San Francisco, CA | Seed, SaaS, Marketplaces | ~$1B | |
True Ventures | 2005 — Palo Alto, CA | Consumer, Developer Tools, Health | ~$3B | |
Redpoint Ventures | 1999 — Menlo Park, CA | Cloud, SaaS, AI, Consumer | ~$7B | |
Shasta Ventures | 2004 — Menlo Park, CA | SaaS, Infra, Consumer | ~$1B+ | |
Crosslink Capital | 1989 — San Francisco, CA | Software, Fintech, Consumer | ~$3.5B | |
Mayfield Fund | 1969 — Menlo Park, CA | SaaS, Deep Tech, Consumer | ~$3B | |
Scale Venture Partners | 2000 — Foster City, CA | Enterprise SaaS, Cloud, Fintech | ~$3B | |
Initialized Capital | 2012 — San Francisco, CA | Seed, Consumer, Developer Tools | ~$3B | |
Threshold Ventures | 1985 — Menlo Park, CA | Enterprise, Deep Tech, AI | ~$3B | |
Emergence Capital | 2003 — San Mateo, CA | B2B SaaS, Cloud | ~$2.5B | |
Matrix Partners | 1977 — Palo Alto, CA | SaaS, Fintech, Consumer | ~$4B |
1) Sequoia Capital
Website: https://www.sequoiacap.com/ Founded / HQ: 1972 - Menlo Park / Redwood City, California Sequoia treats company building like a long arc of relentless refinement. They pair early conviction with growth-stage follow-through and intense founder support. Their culture privileges product focus, ruthless prioritization, and category ambition. Founders often cite Sequoia for connections that scale a company into a market leader. Typical Sectors: Consumer internet, SaaS, infrastructure, AI/ML, healthcare, fintech Flagship / Latest Funds / AUM: Operates multiple regional vehicles, including Sequoia US, Sequoia India/SEA, and Sequoia Heritage. Collectively manages several tens of billions in assets. Notable Partners: Roelof Botha, Alfred Lin, Jim Goetz, Doug Leone
2) Andreessen Horowitz (a16z)
Website: https://a16z.com/
Founded / HQ: 2009 — Menlo Park, California
a16z operates like a thesis-driven studio that builds operating muscle around bets. They combine capital with content, policy, recruiting, and technical resources. The firm prefers founders who want to shift culture as well as capture market share. Investments often come with an explicit narrative and go-to-market engine. Typical Sectors: Software, AI, infrastructure, Web3, fintech, biotech, consumer Flagship / Latest Funds / AUM: More than $35 billion across strategy funds, including a16z Growth, Bio + Health, and Crypto; launched a $20B AI megafund initiative in 2025 Notable Partners: Marc Andreessen, Ben Horowitz, Chris Dixon, Connie Chan
3) Accel
Website: https://www.accel.com/ Founded / HQ: 1983 — Palo Alto, California
Accel is pragmatic about product-led growth and international scaling playbooks. They focus on repeatable go-to-market patterns and unit economics early on. Accel typically supports founders from initial traction through large expansion. Their reputation is built on helping startups prove product-market fit and scale. Typical Sectors: SaaS, enterprise software, security, consumer, fintech, AI Flagship / Latest Funds / AUM: Global early and growth funds with more than $20 billion in total AUM Representative Portfolio (select): Facebook (Meta), Slack, Dropbox, Atlassian, Spotify, Braintree Notable Partners: Rich Wong, Ping Li, Ryan Sweeney, Philippe Botteri
4) Benchmark
Website: https://www.benchmark.com/ Founded / HQ: 1995 — San Francisco, California
Benchmark is a small, high-conviction partnership that moves decisively. They prefer concentrated bets and active board involvement from a single partner. The firm emphasizes product excellence and operational clarity over noise. Founders who want direct, surgical support often choose Benchmark. Typical Sectors: Consumer internet, marketplaces, software, developer tools Flagship / Latest Funds / AUM: Operates lean, concentrated funds around $500–$750 million each Notable Partners: Bill Gurley, Peter Fenton, Sarah Tavel, Chetan Puttagunta
5) Greylock Partners
Website: https://greylock.com/ Founded / HQ: 1965 — Menlo Park, California Greylock focuses on companies that sell to developers and enterprise buyers.
They bring operator networks and mentorship to leadership and go-to-market.
Pattern recognition across enterprise cycles is a core part of their value.
Greylock is often tapped when product and technical credibility matter most. Typical Sectors: Enterprise SaaS, infrastructure, developer tools, AI, consumer apps Flagship / Latest Funds / AUM: Manages multi-billion-dollar funds, including Greylock 17 (2023) Notable Partners: Reid Hoffman, David Sze, Jerry Chen, Sarah Guo
6) Kleiner Perkins
Website: https://www.kleinerperkins.com/ Founded / HQ: 1972 — Menlo Park, California
Kleiner Perkins blends historical influence with bets on deep technical problems.
They back mission-scale companies that may require long research or regulatory paths.
The firm pairs corporate-scale thinking with patient capital for hard problems.
Founders working on climate, biotech, or long R&D arcs find them relevant. Typical Sectors: Enterprise, climate, biotech, consumer, fintech Flagship / Latest Funds / AUM: More than $10 billion AUM across Select, Seed, and Sustainability funds Notable Partners: John Doerr, Mamoon Hamid, Bucky Moore, Wen Hsieh
7) Lightspeed Venture Partners
Website: https://lsvp.com/
Lightspeed mixes consumer instincts with enterprise scaling discipline.
They excel at turning local breakouts into multi-region businesses.
The firm looks for network effects and distribution plays that it can amplify.
Lightspeed moves quickly when conviction and repeatable category signals appear. Founded / HQ: 2000 — Menlo Park, California Typical Sectors: Consumer, enterprise, fintech, healthcare, AI, cloud infrastructure Flagship / Latest Funds / AUM: Around $18 billion globally across early, growth, and opportunity funds Notable Partners: Ravi Mhatre, Jeremy Liew, Nicole Quinn, Arif Janmohamed
8) New Enterprise Associates (NEA)
Website: https://www.nea.com/ Founded / HQ: 1977 — Menlo Park, California / New York NEA is broad and institutionally scaled across sectors and stages.
They will often support companies from seed rounds through public markets.
The firm emphasizes governance, process, and cross-domain expertise.
Founders who expect long relationships and deep resources consider NEA. Typical Sectors: Enterprise, consumer, healthcare, biotech, fintech Flagship / Latest Funds / AUM: Over $25 billion in total assets; most recent fund close was $6.2B in 2023 Representative Portfolio (select): Workday, Robinhood, Coursera, Cloudflare, Salesforce Notable Partners: Scott Sandell, Tony Florence, Forest Baskett, Carmen Chang
9) Founders Fund
Website: https://foundersfund.com/
Founded / HQ: 2005 — San Francisco, California
Founders Fund favors contrarian, moonshot ideas and large technical risk.
They are willing to invest in radical rethinking of industries and infrastructure.
The firm prizes audacity and long-term horizons over incrementalism.
If your idea rewrites assumptions, Founders Fund will likely listen.
Typical Sectors: Deep tech, aerospace, defense, AI, fintech, biotech
Flagship / Latest Funds / AUM: Multiple multi-billion-dollar frontier technology funds
Notable Partners: Peter Thiel, Brian Singerman, Trae Stephens, Lauren Gross
10) Institutional Venture Partners (IVP)
Website: https://www.ivp.com/
Founded / HQ: 1980 — Menlo Park, California
IVP specializes in later-stage, high-growth companies ready to scale aggressively.
They provide large checks and operational support for IPO readiness.
The firm focuses on tightening growth levers and institutional governance.
IVP is a common choice when companies need to prepare for public markets.
Typical Sectors: Later-stage growth in SaaS, consumer internet, fintech
Flagship / Latest Funds / AUM: Growth-stage funds averaging $1–1.5B per vehicle; total AUM around $8B
Notable Partners: Jules Maltz, Tom Loverro, Sandy Miller
11) Bessemer Venture Partners
Website: https://www.bvp.com/
Founded / HQ: 1911 — Redwood City, California
Bessemer is methodical about SaaS patterns and repeatable go-to-market motions.
They publish playbooks and frameworks that founders often use to scale.
The firm blends global reach with deep category playbooks in cloud and SaaS.
Bessemer emphasizes data-driven pattern recognition for portfolio construction.
Typical Sectors: SaaS, enterprise, consumer, fintech, cloud infrastructure
Flagship / Latest Funds / AUM: Approximately $20B AUM across global funds
Notable Partners: Byron Deeter, Talia Goldberg, Kent Bennett
12) Battery Ventures
Website: https://www.battery.com/
Founded / HQ: 1983 — Menlo Park, California / Boston, Massachusetts
Battery favors pragmatic, operator-led support for enterprise and infrastructure.
They back companies across stages and help translate product traction into scale.
The firm is less focused on headlines and more on steady operational rigor.
Founders who prioritize execution over flash often partner with Battery.
Typical Sectors: Enterprise software, cloud infrastructure, industrial tech, consumer tech
Flagship / Latest Funds / AUM: More than $13B raised since inception; Battery XIV and Select Fund II active
Notable Partners: Neeraj Agrawal, Roger Lee, Chelsea Stoner
13) Menlo Ventures
Website: https://menlovc.com/
Founded / HQ: 1976 — Menlo Park, California
Menlo is stage-agnostic and values consumer-enterprise crossover opportunities.
They build playbooks for retention, monetization, and early executive hires.
The firm is known for coachable, founder-friendly support through Series A and B.
Menlo often helps companies transition from product-market fit to growth.
Typical Sectors: AI, consumer, enterprise, fintech, healthtech
Flagship / Latest Funds / AUM: Approximately $5B AUM; recent initiatives include the Anthology Fund and AI partnerships
Notable Partners: Matt Murphy, Venky Ganesan, Shawn Carolan
14) GGV Capital
Website: https://www.ggvc.com/
Founded / HQ: 2000 — Menlo Park, California / Singapore / Shanghai
GGV operates at the intersection of Silicon Valley and major Asian markets.
They specialize in cross-border scaling and market expansion playbooks.
The firm offers bilingual teams and regional distribution expertise.
Startups planning simultaneous U.S. and Asia growth benefit from GGV’s lens.
Typical Sectors: Enterprise, consumer, AI, fintech, cross-border tech
Flagship / Latest Funds / AUM: Around $9B in AUM globally, with restructured regional vehicles in 2024
Notable Partners: Hans Tung, Jenny Lee, Jeff Richards
15) First Round Capital
Website: https://firstround.com/
Founded / HQ: 2004 — San Francisco, California
First Round is a seed specialist with an active community and hands-on programs.
They provide operational templates, office hours, and founder networks early on.
The firm focuses on helping founders find their first repeatable channel.
First Round is designed for the pre-product and product-market discovery stage.
Typical Sectors: Seed-stage software, SaaS, marketplaces, consumer internet
Flagship / Latest Funds / AUM: Multiple seed funds with total AUM around $1B; operates a large founder community
Notable Partners: Josh Kopelman, Hayley Barna, Bill Trenchard
16) True Ventures
Website: https://trueventures.com/
Founded / HQ: 2005 — Palo Alto, California
True backs product-first founders with a long-term, mission-oriented view.
They emphasize craft in product design, hiring culture, and sustainable growth.
The firm is comfortable with patient timelines rather than quick flips.
Founders building enduring brands and developer tools often partner with True.
Typical Sectors: Consumer, developer tools, digital health, frontier tech
Flagship / Latest Funds / AUM: More than $3B across seed and early-stage funds
Notable Partners: Jon Callaghan, Phil Black, Puneet Agarwal
17) Redpoint Ventures
Website: https://www.redpoint.com/
Founded / HQ: 1999 — Menlo Park, California
Redpoint combines product intuition with strong technical and GTM advice.
They back developer tooling, infrastructure, and bold consumer plays alike.
The firm’s team includes operators who translate engineering strength into scale.
Redpoint helps founders build technical advantage into repeatable revenue.
Typical Sectors: Enterprise software, infrastructure, consumer, AI, developer tools
Flagship / Latest Funds / AUM: Approximately $7B AUM across early-stage and growth vehicles
Notable Partners: Geoff Yang, Satish Dharmaraj, Tomasz Tunguz
18) Shasta Ventures
Website: https://shastaventures.com/
Founded / HQ: 2004 — Menlo Park / Portola Valley, California
Shasta focuses on early-stage companies and the messy A to B transition.
They provide hands-on help with first exec hires and early go-to-market metrics.
The firm values repeatable customer acquisition and initial organizational design.
Founders who need practical, roll-up-your-sleeves support find Shasta useful.
Typical Sectors: SaaS, cybersecurity, infrastructure, data intelligence, consumer tech
Flagship / Latest Funds / AUM: Roughly $1B+ AUM across several early-stage funds
Notable Partners: Rob Coneybeer, Tod Francis, Jacob Mullins
19) Crosslink Capital
Website: https://www.crosslinkcapital.com/
Founded / HQ: 1989 — San Francisco, California
Crosslink spans seed to growth with an emphasis on distribution partnerships.
They help founders open customer channels and scale commercial operations.
The firm leans into long-term founder relationships and go-to-market coaching.
Crosslink tends to be understated but persistent in operational support.
Typical Sectors: Software, fintech, consumer, healthtech
Flagship / Latest Funds / AUM: Approximately $3.5B AUM across multiple stage-agnostic vehicles
Notable Partners: Eric Chin, David Silverman, Phil Boyer
20) Mayfield Fund
Website: https://mayfield.com/
Founded / HQ: 1969 — Menlo Park, California
Mayfield brings decades of Silicon Valley experience to early-stage building.
They focus on product-market experiments and founder mentorship.
The firm helps technical founders build defensible moats and initial teams.
Mayfield is often chosen by founders aiming for long-term product durability.
Typical Sectors: Early-stage enterprise, SaaS, deep tech, consumer
Flagship / Latest Funds / AUM: Around $3B AUM across multiple early-stage funds
Notable Partners: Navin Chaddha, Ursheet Parikh, Arvind Gupta
21) Scale Venture Partners
Website: https://scalevp.com/
Founded / HQ: 2000 — Foster City, California
Scale specializes in growth-stage enterprise SaaS and recurring revenue models.
Their playbook centers on unit economics, land-and-expand, and sales efficiency.
The firm helps companies translate ARR into predictable, scalable growth.
Founders focused on subscription metrics and GTM scale often choose Scale.
Typical Sectors: Enterprise SaaS, cloud, security, fintech
Flagship / Latest Funds / AUM: Around $3B AUM; Scale Fund VIII closed at $900M in 2022
Notable Partners: Rory O’Driscoll, Stacey Bishop, Kate Mitchell
22) Initialized Capital
Website: https://initialized.com/
Founded / HQ: 2012 — San Francisco, California
Initialized is a seed-era investor that emphasizes founder-to-founder coaching.
They are pragmatic, quick to decide, and heavy on hands-on mentorship.
The firm builds communities of alumni founders that share operational lessons.
Initialized is a warm, straightforward partner for early-stage teams.
Typical Sectors: Seed-stage software, consumer, fintech, developer tools
Flagship / Latest Funds / AUM: About $3B AUM across multiple seed funds
Notable Partners: Garry Tan, Alexis Ohanian, Katelin Holloway
23) Threshold Ventures (formerly DFJ)
Website: https://threshold.vc/
Founded / HQ: 1985 — Menlo Park, California
Threshold retains the DFJ heritage of backing platform-scale technologies.
They are stage-flexible and pair technical depth with commercial scaling help.
The firm leans on experienced operators to advise rapid growth and product wins.
Threshold is suitable for founders building foundational tech rather than features.
Typical Sectors: Enterprise software, deep tech, consumer, AI
Flagship / Latest Funds / AUM: Early-stage focus with about $3B AUM
Notable Partners: Josh Stein, Heidi Roizen, Emily Melton
24) Emergence Capital
Website: https://emcap.com/
Founded / HQ: 2003 — San Mateo, California
Emergence focuses almost exclusively on enterprise SaaS and B2B motion design.
Their expertise centers on customer success, land-and-expand, and GTM playbooks.
The firm helps founders move product-market fit into sustained ARR momentum.
Emergence is a natural partner for startups selling into large enterprise buyers.
Typical Sectors: Enterprise SaaS, B2B cloud software, collaboration tools
Flagship / Latest Funds / AUM: Roughly $2.5B AUM; core and opportunity funds centered on SaaS
Notable Partners: Jason Green, Gordon Ritter, Kevin Spain
25) Matrix Partners
Website: https://matrixpartners.com/
Founded / HQ: 1977 — Palo Alto, California
Matrix combines early-stage intuition with experience scaling companies globally.
They back fintech, SaaS, consumer, and developer tool companies with steady support.
The firm emphasizes founder coaching, international expansion, and team building.
Matrix is often chosen by founders who want a methodical, long-term partnership.
Typical Sectors: Fintech, SaaS, consumer, developer tools
Flagship / Latest Funds / AUM: Around $4B AUM across global early-stage vehicles
Notable Partners: David Skok, Ilya Sukhar, Antonio Garcia Martinez
From Capital Strategy to Scalable Execution
Ellenox partners with ambitious founders to design, fund, and grow category-defining companies. We advise across capital structure, venture debt, and AI-driven innovation to help startups scale confidently.
Our venture consulting team delivers strategic insight and practical execution across fundraising, operations, and product strategy. Ellenox equips you to attract capital, build traction, and grow on your own terms. https://www.ellenox.com/contacthttps://www.ellenox.com/contact
Comments