SherpaVentures, the venture fund run by Shervin Pishevar and Scott Stanford, is raising a new $175 million fund, according to a filing with the SEC.
This is the second fund from SherpaVentures for investing in startups at the Series A or Series B stage, and it is just a bit more than the $150 million it raised in Fund I. In addition to these main funds, Pishevar and Stanford have a $250 million fund called SherpaEverest that’s geared more toward growth stage companies.
In addition to those funds, SherpaVentures has a strategic advisory firm, SherpaFoundry — which works with startup portfolio companies to make connections. “We help stretch them to work with founders to unlock the entrepreneur inside these organizations,” Tina Sharkey, who runs the firm, said at TechCrunch Disrupt SF last year.
According to the filing, the firm hasn’t yet completed the fund. But based on the duo’s success and the size of the firm’s previous fund — and its investments — it’s likely that SherpaVentures will be able to close it. And given that early-stage investments in startups are becoming increasingly competitive (with Kleiner Perkins, for example, heavily jockeying to get into companies like Sprig) makes that even more likely.
SherpaVentures has invested in the early stages of a number of high-profile startups, such as Shyp, Luxe, Stance and Munchery. Those companies have all gone on to raise several larger rounds, so at least on paper the firm’s first fund is doing well.
And, of course, having a big hit like Uber — which is reportedly raising another $1.5 billion in its latest funding round — it’s likely a more easy sell to limited partners. Pishevar participated in that deal through Menlo Ventures, while Stanford participated in it while at Goldman Sachs.