Menlo Ventures raises new $450M fund to back early consumer, enterprise and ‘frontier technologies’

Silicon Valley VC Menlo Ventures has closed a new $450 million fund to invest primarily in early-stage “consumer, enterprise and frontier technologies”. The funding brings the firm’s total capital to more than $5 billion under management, while Menlo Ventures says the fund was oversubscribed with both new and existing limited partners.

“Menlo’s emphasis on early-stage investing in our main funds is a strategy that’s working,” says managing director Mark Siegel in a statement. “Our focus is on deep, analytical research in fast-moving core areas like Marketplaces, Cloud Infrastructure, SaaS, Fintech and Cybersecurity. We are also digging into new frontier areas that will create massive technological shifts such as artificial intelligence, computational biology, robotics and drone technology.”

Meanwhile, the Sand Hill Road venture firm — whose investments include Uber, Warby Parker, and Betterment, to name but a few — has opened a new San Francisco office, where it says the entire team will split their time together between the new office and its Menlo Park HQ. The reasoning: Menlo Ventures wants to be closer to where the action is at, including hosting events and working even closer with the talent it backs.

“Our core team is dedicated to operating within this hub for talent as we expand our Fuel services program, host events, and work together more flexibly and collaboratively than a traditional venture capital firm,” says Menlo Ventures managing director Venky Ganesan in a statement. “The expansion to San Francisco will strengthen our partnerships with the next generation of entrepreneurs.”

Menlo says it will invest 80 per cent of the “Menlo Ventures XIV” fund in core thesis areas and 20 per cent in frontier technologies, targeting early-stage investments with 50 per cent of the fund going toward seed and Series A deals. Menlo will also continue its allocation of $15 million for the “Menlo Talent Fund,” aimed at promising seed-stage ideas.