Meet the Venture Capitalists · Firm Profile
Menlo Ventures
States it invests in transformative early-stage technology companies and that it is all in on AI. Runs three named stages: Inception for pre-seed, Venture for Series A and B, and Inflection for early growth.
Criteria: The Menlo Anthology Fund, a $100 million fund created with Anthropic, invests at pre-seed, seed and Series A as lead or participating investor, with investments starting at $100,000. Applications are open and rolling, and Menlo states applicants can expect a response within two weeks. Includes infrastructure credits and workspace. Menlo states that leading a round is a seven to ten year commitment.
What this means for your pitchFor an AI-native founder without a network this is the most accessible serious door in the directory. Know which of the three stages you are before you write, because you are pitching a different team in each.
Menlo Anthology FundChecked 16 August 2026
From Menlo Ventures's own site and announcements · checked 26 August 2026 · selective, not comprehensive · verify on the firm's pages
Menlo Ventures announced $3 billion in new capital on its 50th anniversary, across Menlo Ventures XVII, which invests from seed to Series A, and Menlo Inflection IV, which provides growth capital at Series B and beyond. The firm states the capital will focus on AI infrastructure, frontier models, and AI applications in enterprise, healthcare, and consumer markets.
Menlo led Lovable's $400 million Series C at a $13.3 billion valuation, its second consecutive round in the company. Lovable is a platform for building and running software applications with AI, with hosting, databases, authentication, and payments built in.
Applications are open on a rolling basis for the Menlo Anthology Fund, a $100 million fund run with Anthropic that makes pre-seed, seed, and Series A investments starting at $100,000. Funded startups receive free Anthropic credits and are not required to build on Claude.