Menlo Ventures

About

Menlo Ventures is one of Silicon Valley’s oldest venture capital firms, founded in 1976 by H. DuBose Montgomery ¹². The firm is headquartered in Menlo Park, California, with an additional presence in San Francisco ¹.

Over nearly 50 years, Menlo Ventures has grown to manage more than $5.8 billion in assets ². The firm’s portfolio includes more than 85 public companies and over 170 exits through mergers and acquisitions, with 25 unicorns ²³. As of March 2026, Menlo Ventures has invested in 466 companies, with 31 new investments in the last 12 months ³.

In November 2023, the firm raised $1.35 billion across two vehicles: Menlo XVI (early-stage) and Menlo Inflection III (early growth) ⁴. In July 2024, Menlo Ventures partnered with Anthropic to launch the Anthology Fund, a $100 million initiative to back AI-native startups at pre-seed through Series A stages ⁵⁶. By December 2024, the Anthology Fund had selected its first cohort of 18 companies from thousands of applications ⁷.

Stated Thesis

Menlo Ventures publicly describes itself as “ALL IN on AI,” signaling that artificial intelligence is the firm’s dominant current investment focus ¹. The firm invests across multiple technology sectors including AI, bio and healthcare, consumer, cybersecurity, fintech, infrastructure, robotics and hardware, SaaS, and supply chain and automation ¹.

The firm’s tagline is: “When we invest, we’re invested” — emphasizing active involvement beyond passive capital provision ¹.

Through the Anthology Fund, Menlo has articulated five specific AI investment themes ⁵: 1. AI Infrastructure — developer tools and middleware advancing LLM adoption 2. Frontier AI Applications — transforming bio, healthcare, legal, financial services, and cybersecurity 3. Consumer AI Solutions — integrating LLMs into user experiences 4. Trust and Safety Tooling — responsible AI deployment 5. Societal Benefit AI — education, job creation, and accessibility

Six Menlo partners lead the Anthology Fund: Deedy Das, Amy Wu Martin, Venky Ganesan, Tim Tully, Matt Murphy, and Joff Redfern, working alongside Anthropic President Daniela Amodei and CPO Mike Krieger ⁵.

Inferred Thesis

Based on Menlo Ventures’ verified portfolio data:

Stage distribution: The firm invests from seed through growth. Recent fundraising separates early-stage (Menlo XVI) from early growth (Inflection III), suggesting a dual-track approach ⁴. The Anthology Fund focuses specifically on pre-seed to Series A ⁵.

Sector focus: Menlo’s current portfolio reflects a heavy AI tilt. Key sectors include AI/ML (Anthropic, Pinecone, Abnormal AI), fintech (Chime, Betterment, Carta), cybersecurity (Abnormal Security, BitSight), enterprise SaaS (Harness, Benchling), consumer (Roku, Poshmark, Rover), and healthcare (Recursion, PillPack) ¹³.

AI as defining bet: Menlo’s investment in Anthropic, combined with the $100M Anthology Fund partnership, represents one of the most concentrated AI bets by any venture firm. The firm produces an annual “State of Generative AI” report, positioning itself as a thought leader in the AI investment landscape ⁸.

Notable exits: Key liquidity events include Uber, Roku (IPO), Chime (IPO on Nasdaq), Poshmark, Warby Parker, PillPack (acquired by Amazon), and Siri (acquired by Apple) ¹³.

Co-investor patterns: The Anthropic partnership gives Menlo a structural advantage in AI deal flow, as portfolio companies receive Anthropic model credits and access to Anthropic’s research team ⁵.

Geographic focus: Primarily U.S.-based, with the Anthology Fund considering exceptional international companies ⁵.

Portfolio

This table represents a small fraction of Menlo’s 466 total investments. The firm has produced 85+ public companies and 170+ M&A exits ².

In Their Own Words

No independently verified direct quotes found from Menlo Ventures partners beyond website marketing copy.

What Founders Say

No independently sourced founder testimonials found.

Sources