“Foundation Capital, Early Backer of Solana and Cerebras, Raises $600M Fund”

Foundation Capital, a renowned venture capital firm, has successfully raised a new $600 million fund, marking a 20% increase from its previous $500 million fund, which closed three years ago. The 30-year-old firm specializes in seed-stage investing and has stayed focused on this strategy while other firms diversified into multi-stage and multi-geography investments.

“We believe in staying focused on the early stage,” said Steve Vassallo, a general partner at Foundation Capital. “We look for emerging markets in enterprise, AI, fintech, and crypto that don’t yet exist but will be created by visionary founders.”

The firm’s portfolio includes notable companies such as Cerebras, which has grown into a $4.25 billion company, and Solana, a blockchain platform. Other successful exits include the sale of EvolutionIQ for $730 million and the $1.5 billion acquisition of cybersecurity startup Venafi by CyberArk.

Vassallo emphasized the importance of creating new markets rather than following existing ones. “By building new markets, we end up owning those categories and driving exponentially better results,” he said.

This new $600 million fund is the largest in Foundation Capital’s history, supported by its history of high cash distributions. The firm has returned approximately $1.4 billion to its limited partners over the last three years, surpassing its fund requests during the period.

Despite growing the fund size, Foundation Capital remains committed to its early-stage focus. The firm’s ability to identify and back transformative startups continues to set it apart in the competitive venture capital landscape.