SCOOP: Menlo Ventures Sees IRR of 40%+ on Recent Funds After Doubling Down on Anthropic
The 50-year-old firm had some lean years before scoring big on the AI leader & several other rising stars
For a prime example of the VC power law at play, look no further than the recent history of Menlo Ventures.
The venerable Silicon Valley firm had been struggling to stand out, with its 2015 and 2018 funds showing middling returns.
Then came AI — and Anthropic. Menlo first invested in the AI lab’s Series C in 2023, and eventually put around $1 billion into the company across different funds and vehicles. It’s far and away the most capital Menlo has ever invested in a single company — 10x larger than its second-biggest investment — and the stake is now worth $14 billion.
The firm’s 2025 investments in Lovable, Wispr, and Suno are also seeing big markups as the firm goes all-in on AI. Menlo is already cashing in on the wins, announcing last month that it had raised $3 billion in new funds, its largest fundraise to date.
Newcomer recently obtained detailed fund performance data on Menlo Ventures early-stage funds and growth-stage funds from 2012 onward through the end of Q1 of this year, provided by a source familiar with the firm’s performance. The reports show the internal rates of return (IRR) and total value to paid-in capital (TVPI) for each of Menlo’s more recent funds.
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Menlo has backed Anthropic repeatedly since its Series C round in 2023, and led its Series D in July 2024. The firm raised a special purpose vehicle in 2024 to invest entirely in the AI lab, and put more than $500 million between it and its main fund capital into the D round. The firm even launched a $100 million Anthology Fund with Anthropic to invest in early-stage AI startups and give them additional access to Anthropic credits. Fund return data on the SPV and the Anthology Fund couldn’t be learned.
Outside of the SPV, Anthropic is spread across MV XV, MV XVI, Inflection III, and Inflection IV within the firm’s portfolio. Menlo Ventures’ repeated checks into Anthropic and a few other startups that have done quick successive funding rounds at big markups have given the IRR for its 2023 and 2026 funds a huge boost. These fund performance figures don’t reflect Anthropic’s most recent markup from its $65 billion Series H in May, which increased its valuation to $965 billion.