Menlo Ventures Closes New Early Stage $450M Fund

Menlo Ventures, the Silicon Valley venture capital firm, closed a new $450 million venture capital fund aimed at investing in early stage companies focused in the consumer, enterprise and so-called frontier technologies markets.

According to a report in TechCrunch, with the new fund, the VC has a total capital of greater than $5 billion under management. Menlo Ventures said the fund was oversubscribed, with existing investors and new ones participating.

“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 to TechCrunch. “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.”

Menlo Ventures, which has invested in Uber, Warby Parker and Betterment, among many others, is opening a new office in San Francisco, in which the team will spend part of their time. The move is designed to put the VCs closer to where the action is.

“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 to TechCrunch. “The expansion to San Francisco will strengthen our partnerships with the next generation of entrepreneurs.”

The new fund will be 80 percent invested in core areas, while 20 percent will go toward frontier technologies. Of the investments, half will go to fund seed and Series A deals, noted the report. The venture capital firm will also continue to allocate $15 million for its “Menlo Talent Fund” that invests in seed stage ideas, noted the report.