October proved to be a significant month for venture capital firms, as indicated by recently disclosed SEC filings. These filings reveal that prominent firms are currently attracting substantial investments from limited partners, particularly those with specialized focus areas. Below are some noteworthy highlights of recent developments that may not have received widespread attention.
Trust Ventures submitted a filing to raise a $400 million fifth fund earlier this week. Founded in 2017 by Salen Churi, this Austin-based firm aims to support entrepreneurs operating in heavily regulated sectors. Koch Disruptive Technologies notably backed Trust Ventures’ initial fund in 2018. Earlier this year, the firm attempted to raise $225 million for its fourth fund, although it remains unclear whether that fund has closed.
In another development, former Benchmark VCs Victor Lazarte and Kris Fredrickson have successfully raised $1.252 billion for their inaugural AI fund, known as Diffusion ONE. This surpasses their original target of $800 million, which had been reported in May. The newly formed fund has already made significant investments, including co-leading a $550 million Series H round for Harvey alongside Lightspeed Ventures and participating in Etched’s $300 million Series C, announced earlier in July.
Benchmark itself has filed paperwork for four new partner-exclusive funds, categorized as Benchmark Partners Founders’ Fund T1, Benchmark Partners Founders’ Fund 2, Benchmark Partners Founders’ Fund 2-A, and Benchmark Partners Founders’ Fund T1-A. These funds aim to raise $220 million, $132 million, $4.5 million, and $7.5 million respectively. Jack Altman, who recently transitioned from his own firm to Benchmark, is listed in each of these filings.
On another note, Joe Lonsdale’s 8VC appears to be in the process of raising multiple funds, including a $400 million vehicle named 8VC DSS III, along with smaller funds like 8VC COSC at $30.35 million, and 8VC BRSC at $20.35 million. Additionally, 8VC AI Fund XI has already secured $13.5 million in pledges, including contributions from 8VC itself. This follows the announcement in July that the firm successfully raised $1.5 billion for Fund VII.
Earlier this month, Notable Capital—known for backing companies such as Anthropic, Airbnb, and Square—filed to establish a fifth fund, while Neil Mehta’s Greenoaks, which co-led Anthropic’s impressive $65 billion Series H, submitted a filing for a new fund known as Greenoaks 7. The timing is particularly favorable as Anthropic is making strides toward a public offering, which positions these firms to attract attention based on potential returns. PitchBook notes that Greenoaks has also supported companies like Ramp and Anthropic.
Additionally, Industry Ventures announced that it has raised at least $1.7 billion for its secondaries fund, which became available for investment in late July. This size indicates the increasing importance of the secondaries market, as demand for stakes in thriving private companies continues to rise. A family office advisor highlighted the growing popularity of the secondaries market, while Emily Zheng, a senior VC analyst at PitchBook, noted that stakes in companies like Anthropic and OpenAI have become some of the most sought-after assets in the venture capital space.
