Menlo Ventures Raises Record $3B Fund on Anthropic Bet

What made the move audacious was not the target. It was the money.

How Menlo actually pulled together $750 million

In 2024, the venture world was only just climbing out of a deep funding winter. Heavyweights like SoftBank and Tiger Global were still licking their wounds. Nobody was casually writing checks for three-quarters of a billion dollars.

So Menlo engineered the round rather than simply funding it. Here is the mechanical breakdown of how the $750 million came together, based on figures reported at the time.

The bulk of the deal, about $500 million, was structured as a special purpose vehicle, or SPV. An SPV is a one-off investment entity created to pool money from multiple sources for a single deal. Menlo then added $250 million from its own fund and from Menlo insiders, sources told Forbes at the time, bringing the round to $750 million.

That structure is the real story. It let a single firm punch far above its check-writing weight at a moment when almost no one else would.

SPVs went from clever to everywhere

Since that 2024 deal, AI SPVs have become, in TechCrunch words, as commonplace as cockroaches. Anthropic in particular has become a favorite target for these vehicles.

That popularity has a dark side. Last month the company issued a public warning, labeling all unauthorized SPVs and secondary markets that claim to sell its stock as scams.

If you are being offered Anthropic shares through an SPV or a secondary market, treat it as a scam until proven otherwise. Anthropic has publicly warned that unauthorized vehicles claiming to sell its stock are fraudulent. Verify any offer directly before moving money.

For the investors who got into Menlo authorized 2024 deal, though, the aggressive structure paid off cleanly. Menlo went on to back Anthropic again in its Series E and Series F rounds.

Anthology, the side fund that quietly compounded

Menlo did not stop at direct stakes. In 2024 it also launched a $100 million startup fund alongside Anthropic, named Anthology.

A source with knowledge of the fund tells TechCrunch that capital deployed to date is now closer to $250 million. Anthology has backed more than 60 companies, giving them perks like access to Anthropic leaders and credits for Claude.

It has also already produced exits. Graphite was acquired by Cursor, and Astrix Security was acquired by Cisco. The fund gave Menlo an early read on AI startups, categories, and technology at the earliest stages, and that vantage point has fed a broader reputation. The firm now counts AI names like OpenRouter, Higgsfield, Legora, Lovable, and OpenEvidence among its portfolio.

What happens next over the coming 24 to 72 hours

Expect the immediate reaction to center on validation. A $3 billion close, openly tied to a single AI stake, is a strong signal to limited partners that concentrated AI bets can still anchor a fund. Other firms sitting on AI positions will use this as a talking point in their own raises.

Watch for renewed scrutiny of SPVs. With Menlo deal back in the headlines and Anthropic recent scam warning fresh, expect more attention on which secondary offers are real and which are not.

• Limited partners and rival VCs will read the $3 billion close as proof that AI-concentrated funds can clear, even in a cautious market.
• Anthropic warning about fraudulent SPVs is likely to get amplified as the story circulates, since the two are now linked in coverage.
• Attention will turn to whether Menlo deploys the new fund into more late-stage AI bets or spreads it earlier through vehicles like Anthology.

The throughline is simple. One structured, gutsy move in a frozen market turned into the biggest fund Menlo has ever raised. Whether that is repeatable, or a one-time product of catching Anthropic at the right moment, is the question the next fund cycle will answer.

Source: TechCrunch