Mayfield Fund

About

Mayfield is one of Silicon Valley’s oldest venture capital firms, founded in 1969 by Thomas J. Davis Jr. and Wally Davis in Menlo Park, California ¹. Davis had previously co-founded Davis & Rock with Arthur Rock, funded by founders of Fairchild Semiconductor ¹. Over more than five decades, the firm has invested in over 550 companies, resulting in more than 125 IPOs and 225 acquisitions ².

Navin Chaddha has led Mayfield as Managing Partner since 2005, raising eight U.S. funds and guiding over 80 companies to positive outcomes during his tenure ³. In May 2023, the firm announced $955 million in new capital across two funds: Mayfield XVII ($580 million for Series A) and Mayfield Select III ($375 million for Series B opportunities) ⁴. Additionally, the firm launched the $250 million AI Start seed fund — its first dedicated seed vehicle — led by partner Vijay Reddy, targeting AI-first founders from inception ⁵.

In 2024, Mayfield launched the AI Garage, a $100 million incubator aimed at fostering AI-first startups ⁴. The firm describes its total AI investment commitment as $3 billion ². Securiti, a portfolio company, was acquired for $1.725 billion, representing a notable recent exit ².

As of February 2026, Mayfield has made 429 investments tracked on Tracxn, with 16 new investments in the prior 12 months ⁴. The most recent investment was in Rhoda AI in March 2026 ⁴. DevRev became the firm’s most recent unicorn in 2024 ⁴.

Stated Thesis

Mayfield publicly describes itself as a “people first” venture capital firm, investing in founders from inception ². Managing Partner Navin Chaddha has stated: “I partner with entrepreneurs who want to change the way people work, live, and play. I believe that company building is a marathon, not a sprint, and that crisis can be an opportunity for the bold” ³.

The firm has publicly organized its investment focus around what it calls “AI Teammates” and a “Collaborative Intelligence Era,” emphasizing human-AI partnership rather than human replacement ²⁵. Chaddha has stated that the firm looks for founders who will “put the company first, their team second, and themselves third” ⁶. He has also described AI as creating a future where “each one of us will have a genie. They’ll have a teammate, and we’ll be doing things together” ⁶.

Mayfield’s AI Start fund articulates five core principles for AI-first founders: learn from historical technology paradigm shifts, identify a specific innovation bet, practice responsible AI development, treat AI as a teammate augmenting humans, and recognize company building as a long-term endeavor ⁵.

The firm states it invests across AI, enterprise, consumer, human and planetary health, and semiconductors ².

Inferred Thesis

Based on 60 verified current and milestone portfolio companies from Mayfield’s own portfolio page ⁷:

Sector distribution: AI/enterprise software dominates the portfolio. Of 60 verified investments: 19 AI-focused companies (32%), 25 enterprise software/infrastructure (42%), 9 human health/biotech (15%), 7 semiconductors/hardware (12%). Note: some companies span multiple categories; primary category used.

Stage distribution: Mayfield states 70% of investments begin at inception ². The AI Start fund is dedicated seed, Fund XVII targets Series A, and Select III targets Series B ⁵⁴. This suggests a pipeline approach: seed companies through AI Start, then follow on via the main fund.

Geographic concentration: Portfolio is overwhelmingly Silicon Valley/Bay Area based, with some companies in New York, Austin, and India (Matrimony.com, Licious) ⁷.

Check size: Not publicly disclosed per company, but the AI Start fund is $250 million targeting 30-40 companies (implying ~$6-8 million average), while Fund XVII at $580 million and Select III at $375 million suggest larger follow-on checks ⁵⁴.

Founder profile patterns: Chaddha emphasizes founders with high EQ, vulnerability, and willingness to partner with investors ⁶. The firm has a strong track record with technical founders — portfolio includes HashiCorp (Mitchell Hashimoto), Lyft (Logan Green, John Zimmer), and multiple semiconductor founders ⁷.

Co-investor patterns: Based on portfolio company data, Mayfield frequently co-invests with Sequoia Capital, Kleiner Perkins, and Greylock at later stages, reflecting its position as an established Silicon Valley firm ⁷.

Notable gaps: Despite stating focus on “consumer,” consumer investments are a small and declining portion of the current portfolio. Active investments are overwhelmingly AI and enterprise. The “human and planetary health” category is present but small relative to stated emphasis.

Portfolio

This table represents approximately 30 of 550+ known investments. The sample skews toward notable outcomes and current active companies listed on Mayfield’s website. The full portfolio spans five decades and is substantially larger.

In Their Own Words

“I partner with entrepreneurs who want to change the way people work, live, and play. I believe that company building is a marathon, not a sprint, and that crisis can be an opportunity for the bold.” — Navin Chaddha, Managing Partner, Mayfield website ³

“Each one of us will have a genie. They’ll have a teammate, and we’ll be doing things together.” — Navin Chaddha, on AI as a collaborative partner, Fortune interview, October 2024 ⁶

“We have customized our ‘people-first’ framework to apply to AI companies and are using it to guide our investment decisions.” — Navin Chaddha, TechCrunch, August 2023 ⁸

“Looking forward to serving as seed stage partners to bold AI-first founders.” — Navin Chaddha, announcing the AI Start fund, Mayfield blog ⁵

What Founders Say

“Sri not only helped us in building the investor list but took out time every week to send the introductions and do follow-ups. He became a champion of Eva and helped me navigate the fund-raising process… Sri is one of the best advisors one can have on his/her side and I would highly recommend him as a startup investor/advisor.” — Founder testimonial about Sri Pangulur, Partner at Mayfield, via LinkedIn ⁹

No additional independently sourced founder testimonials found beyond firm marketing materials. Mayfield’s website describes operational involvement and transparency as core values, and founders have reported valuing the firm’s early-stage conviction and collaborative partnership ⁹.

Sources