Menlo Ventures and Anthropic Collaborate to Launch $100M AI Investment Fund

Menlo Ventures, a leading Silicon Valley venture capital firm and a major investor in the artificial intelligence startup Anthropic, has announced a strategic partnership with Anthropic to launch a $100 million initiative titled “the Anthology Fund.” This fund aims to invest in pre-seed, seed, and Series A AI companies.

Recently, Menlo Ventures ascended to the top tier of Anthropic’s investors by closing a significant funding round exceeding $750 million for the foundational model company, as reported by sources close to the matter.

The financial backing for the Anthology Fund follows Menlo's successful closure of its latest $1.35 billion fund, which was raised last November. Tim Tully, a partner at Menlo Ventures, mentioned that discussions about the exact funding sources are still ongoing with limited partners.

“We’re proud to be one of Anthropic's largest investors and are fans of their innovative work,” Tully stated. “This initiative represents a unique opportunity for collaboration, allowing us to explore the ecosystem and discover exceptional companies that are either building on Anthropic’s technology or contributing to the AI landscape as a whole.”

By leveraging its investment and strong relationship with Anthropic, Menlo Ventures aims to pinpoint promising AI-driven startups for future investment opportunities. The Anthology Fund will begin with initial investments of $100,000 in startups, coupled with $25,000 in credits for using Anthropic’s advanced models.

Startups interested in applying for funding can do so through an online form. Menlo will utilize its proprietary machine learning tool to effectively score and rank all applications. Tully added that the due diligence process for these companies would be more streamlined compared to typical investments made by the firm. Furthermore, Menlo Ventures plans to support follow-on rounds for standout companies from the Anthology Fund.