24 Top VC Firms in Tech

Meet the VC firms backing the products you use every day.

Written by Jacob Biba
24 Top VC Firms in Tech
Image: Shutterstock / Built In
UPDATED BY
Matthew Urwin | May 09, 2023

In the tech industry, much of the financial support successful startups receive comes from an array of top venture capital, or VC, firms that invest in companies, and the people and ideas behind them. While founders may have to cede part of their ownership in exchange for funds, top VC firms can breathe new life into a tech startup and give leaders the resources they need to grow their businesses.

Top VC Firms in Tech

  • Andreessen Horowitz
  • Greylock Partners
  • Sequoia Capital
  • Kleiner Perkins
  • Intel Capital
  • Bessemer Venture Partners
  • Accel
  • Founders Fund
  • Benchmark
  • Index Ventures

 

How Do Top VC Firms Operate?

Top VC firms back startups and established companies at specific stages of growth using invested funds from institutional clients like large nonprofits, pension funds and university endowments.

While financial backing from a VC firm can come early in the life of a startup — like a pre-seed or seed funding round — or later in a company’s evolution — think Series C funding to help a company take their next big leap — that money is a big bet that could provide a tremendous return on investment if the company goes public or is acquired.

But for every Apple and Amazon that has relied on venture capital to emerge as well-known, publicly traded companies, there are others that weren’t so successful for any number of reasons — either from hitting the market too soon or just outright collapse. To manage risk, VC firms conduct immense amounts of research and analysis and may even focus their investments in certain niche sectors within the tech industry like artificial intelligence or digital healthcare.

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24 Top VC Firms in Tech

From seed rounds to late-stage growth partnerships, these are the top VC firms helping tech companies, and their founders, not only find financial success but make even greater advances in the industry.

 

Best for: Startups across a range of stages and industries 

Notable investments: Ambient.ai, Asana, ClickUp

Industries served: Many areas, including healthcare, crypto and gaming 

One of the most well-known VC firms backing tech companies today is Andreessen Horowitz, or a16z, as it’s commonly known. Launched in 2009 by Netscape co-founder Marc Andressen and Ben Horowitz, a co-founder, alongside Andreesen, of the software company Opsware, a16z has invested in companies in various industries ranging from healthcare to cryptocurrency. It’s managing $35 billion across its funds and has backed companies like Airbnb, Facebook, Stripe and Skydio.

 

Best for: Startups of all stages, especially seed-stage startups 

Notable investments: Coinbase, Palo Alto Networks, Nextdoor 

Industries served: Enterprise software, consumer technology, cybersecurity and crypto 

Greylock Partners is a Silicon Valley-based VC firm that invests in companies developing enterprise and consumer technology, as well as cryptocurrency. It has provided funding to Nextdoor, the neighborhood-based social media service; Roblox, the gaming and metaverse platform; and Coinbase, a cryptocurrency exchange. In 2021, Greylock raised $500 million specifically for seed funding.

 

Best for: Startups of all stages 

Notable investments: Apple, WhatsApp, Unity 

Industries served: Consumer technology, mobile technology and energy, among other sectors

Another well-known VC firm, Sequoia Capital has backed a wide array of companies ranging from Apple and Atari to Square and, one of the top metaverse companies, Unity. Founded in 1972, Sequoia also manages investments for a limited number of nonprofits like the Ford Foundation and the Boston Children’s Hospital. Headquartered in Menlo Park, Sequoia has offices in Europe, India, Southeast Asia and China.

 

Best for: Early- and growth-stage startups 

Notable investments: Amazon, Electronic Arts, VMware Carbon Black 

Industries served: Fintech, consumer technology, hardware, enterprise software and healthcare

Founded in Menlo Park, California, in 1972, Kleiner Perkins has backed tech industry forebears like Compaq, Genentech, AOL, Amazon and Netscape. It’s also invested in consumer tech companies like Epic Games, financial tech companies like Stripe, and hardware, enterprise and healthcare companies. In August 2022, the VC firm led a $30 million funding round for Zumper, an online rental platform moving into the short-term rental space.

 

Best for: Early-stage startups 

Notable investments: Joby Aviation, Beep, Horizon Robotics 

Industries served: Cloud, mobile technology and hardware, to name a few 

A subsidiary of technology company Intel Corporation, Intel Capital backs a wide array of startups working in cloud, hardware, circuit and chip, and “frontier” technologies like robotics and automation. Founded in 1991, Intel Capital has invested in more than 1,900 companies and has provided funding for the eVTOL company Joby Aviation as well as Beep, the self-driving electric car company.

 

Best for: Early- and late-stage startups 

Notable investments: LinkedIn, Twilio, Pinterest  

Industries served: Consumer services, enterprise software and healthcare 

Having backed LinkedIn, Twitch, Pinterest and Shopify, Bessemer Venture Partners has helped companies across healthcare, social media and other consumer industries grow into successful brands. In 2022, Bessemer Venture Partners led an $8.5 million funding round for the financial operations startup, Nilus, as well as participating in a $31.5 million funding round for Zylo, a SaaS company.

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Best for: Early- and late-stage startups 

Notable investments: 1Password, Ada, ACKO

Industries served: Many industries, including fintech, SaaS and healthcare

The VC firm Accel has backed major players in tech like the password manager, 1Password, the drone company Skydio, and grocery delivery companies Misfits Market and GoPuff. It was also an early investor in Facebook. Founded in 1983, Accel is headquartered in Palo Alto, California, and has offices in San Francisco, London and India. In June 2022, it announced a $4 billion late-stage fund, which the company said “will provide expansion capital to promising companies within our own portfolio worldwide, as well as to aspiring companies that are new to the Accel family.

 

Best for: Startups focused on developing transformational technologies 

Notable investments: SpaceX, Oculus, Figma 

Industries served: Space exploration, virtual reality and consumer technology, to name a few

Founders Fund was started by PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel, an early backer of Facebook and LinkedIn. The company prefers to invest in tech businesses focused specifically on scientific and engineering issues. It has funded businesses like SpaceX, Modern Health, Oculus, Lyft and the design tool Figma, which Adobe announced it was acquiring for $20 billion in 2022.

 

Best for: Early-stage startups 

Notable investments: Amplitude, Cerebras Systems, Airtable 

Industries served: Enterprise software, mobile technology and cloud services, among others

Benchmark is another famous VC firm having backed big name companies such as WeWork and Uber. It refers to itself as the Chicago Bulls of venture capital firms, and the firm’s general partner, Bill Gurley has been likened to the Michal Jordan of investing. The company has also backed startups like online dating app Tinder, messaging app SnapChat and Stitch Fix, the online personal styling company.

 

Best for: Startups of all stages spanning various sectors 

Notable investments: Slack, Etsy, Notion 

Industries served: Many industries, including consumer technology, enterprise software and AI

With offices in San Francisco, New York City, New Jersey, London and Geneva, Switzerland, Index Ventures has backed companies like Roblox, Etsy, Slack and Squarespace. In 2022, it announced a $300 million seed fund, Index Origin II, focused on early stage investments.

 

Best for: Early-stage startups 

Notable investments: Warby Parker, Carta, Chime 

Industries served: Consumer technology, enterprise software and healthcare 

Menlo Ventures focuses its investments on companies working in sectors like cybersecurity, SaaS, robotics, digital healthcare and other tech-related industries. Founded in 1976, the VC firm has helped more than 80 companies go public and has more than $5 billion under management. Menlo Ventures has backed companies like Warby Parker, Uber, Poshmark and Chime.

 

Best for: Early-stage vertical SaaS startups 

Notable investments: Ritten, Cubby, GreenSpark 

Industries served: Scrap yards, behavioral health and self-storage, among many others 

Fractal Software is a VC firm that invests in early-stage vertical SaaS companies. Vertical SaaS is specific to one industry, rather than serving customers across domains. VC brings money to the table, of course, but Fractal also works with entrepreneurs to co-create business concepts, brings in established co-founders and provides support to decrease risk and increase the potential for success, which it defines as “a venture-scale outcome.”

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Best for: Startups focused on Web3 areas like crypto and blockchain 

Notable investments: LimeWire, Hiro, Helium 

Industries served: Crypto, blockchain and digital asset financial services  

Hivemind Capital Partners is an investment firm that offers venture funding to what are known as Web3 projects: early-stage crypto companies, blockchain tech and digital asset financial services. Scouting projects from entrepreneurs and software designers in the crypto economy, Hivemind brings strategy services and capital to the table to launch new companies and tech into the crypto economy.

 

Best for: Early-stage startups in various industries

Notable clients: Horizon Robotics, Pony.ai, UC Web

Industries investments: Self-driving cars, robotics and e-commerce, to name a few

5Y Capital is a VC firm based in Shanghai, China. Previously known as Morningside Venture Capital, 5Y manages more than $5 billion for clients, investing in tech companies such as Hai Robotics, a warehouse automation company; Pony.ai, an autonomous vehicle startup; and Horizon Robotics, another company working in the self-driving car industry.

 

Best for: Early- and growth-stage startups 

Notable investments: Ernesta, Onehouse, Seqera Labs

Industries served: Custom rugs, cloud, data analytics

Addition is a VC firm started by Lee Fixel, a former partner at Tiger Global Management, where he backed such companies as FreshWorks and Peloton. At Addition, Fixel is focused on backing early and growth-stage companies. In 2020, Fixel raised $1.28 billion to kick off the fund, which the Wall Street Journal dubbed one of the largest initial rounds in the history of venture capital. In 2022, Addition, and others, provided $25 million in series A funding to Ernesta, a direct-to-consumer rug startup started by Peloton founder, John Foley.

 

Best for: Early-stage startups 

Notable investments: Instacart, Dusty Robotics, Corvium

Industries served: Healthcare, fintech, cloud and biopharma, among other sectors

Founded in 1987, Canaan invests in early-stage startups and has backed companies like grocery tech company Instacart and the collaborative robot company Dusty Robotics. It has raised $6 billion across 12 funds. Additionally, it has backed 70 companies that have had initial public offerings and has been involved in 145 mergers and acquisitions.

 

Best for: Startups across all stages 

Notable investments: Airbnb, Slack, Otter.ai 

Industries served: Social and internet, enterprise software and smart technology 

GGV Capital is a VC firm investing in social media, enterprise and smart tech companies. Founded in 2000, GGV manages more than $9 billion globally across 17 funds and has backed companies like Affirm, Airbnb, Square, Slack and Poshmark.

 

Best for: Startups of any stage that are open to long-term partnerships 

Notable investments: Canva, Discord, Stripe 

Industries served: Graphic design, cloud services and fintech, among other industries

Based in San Francisco, Greenoaks Capital was founded in 2012. The firm embraces quality over quantity, seeking to build long-term relationships with businesses that have the potential to reshape their industries. It has backed companies like Airtable, a database platform provider, the travel company Kayak, and Canva, a graphic design company.

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Best for: Early- and growth-stage startups 

Notable investments: Pinterest, Shopify, DraftKings 

Industries served: Enterprise software, consumer technology and frontier sectors like AI 

Based in New York City, FirstMark Capital is a VC firm that’s backed big names in consumer and enterprise tech like Pinterest, DraftKings and Ro, a digital healthcare company. With funds totaling more than $1 billion, FirstMark also offers a recruiting platform, as well as a network of more than 50,000 members with organized events and conferences to connect founders and entrepreneurs.

 

Best for: Seed-stage startups 

Notable investments: Uber, Airtable, The Trade Desk 

Industries served: E-commerce, crypto, adtech and healthcare, among other industries 

Working with startups at the seed stage, Founder Collective has funded Airtable, Uber and Embark, a company that provides DNA testing for dogs. In 2022, Founder Collective participated in a $7.5 million funding round for the National Cycling League, a professional cycling organization that uses tech to measure performance, allowing fans to compare themselves to the pros.

 

Best for: Late-stage startups 

Notable investments: Klarna, Twitter, CrowdStrike 

Industries served: Fintech, healthcare and SaaS, among other industries 

Founded in 1980, IVP has invested in more than 400 companies, 131 of which have gone public. According to the company’s website, its investments have produced a more than 43 percent internal rate of return, with more than $8.7 billion invested. IVP has backed companies like Glossier and Coinbase, as well as Lime and UIPath, a leading robotic process automation company.

 

Best for: Early-stage startups 

Notable investments: Headspace, Lyft, River Financial

Industries served: Web3, financial services, e-commerce and healthcare, among other sectors

M13 is a VC firm with offices in Santa Monica, California, and New York City. The company invests in technology companies working in health, e-commerce, financial services and Web3. It has invested in the meditation app, Headspace, and Daily Harvest, the plant-based meal kit company. Last year, M13 raised $400 million in its latest funding round and will continue to take a similar approach to its investments, but with increased equity stakes.

 

Best for: Seed-stage startups 

Notable investments: DoorDash, Aurora Solar, Affinity 

Industries served: Fintech, AI, biotech and Saas, among other industries

Pear VC has seeded almost 200 companies, eight of which are valued at more than $1 billion today, and three which have gone public. It has backed companies like DoorDash, Affinity, a SaaS company focused on client relationship management, and the climate tech company Aurora Solar.

 

Best for: Growth-stage startups 

Notable investments: Jellyvision, Built In, Nerdio

Industries served: B2B technology and software 

Headquartered in Washington D.C., Updata Partners specializes in working with software-enabled companies based outside of the Bay Area with limited prior outside investment. In addition to capital, Updata provides companies with support in scaling operations and accelerating sales. Its portfolio includes companies like Jellyvision, Nerdio and Built In.

Margo Steines contributed reporting to this story.

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