The Short Answer
The best-known Silicon Valley venture firms for Seed and Series A are Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), Accel, Benchmark, Lightspeed, Kleiner Perkins and Founders Fund, with Greylock, Khosla Ventures, First Round, Floodgate and Pear VC strongest at the earliest stages, and Felicis, Redpoint and Emergence Capital leaning toward AI and B2B software. Behind those names sit roughly 600 other Bay Area firms that also invest at Seed or Series A, and that is where many rounds actually come together.
This guide covers both: the data on the wider market first, then 15 firm profiles grouped by what founders search for, then what we’ve learned about raising from Silicon Valley investors.
Silicon Valley’s Early-Stage Market, in Numbers
Rankings of Silicon Valley venture firms usually start and end with the same ten names. That tells you who is famous. It doesn’t tell you who you can realistically raise from. So before the profiles, here is what the wider market looks like.
Rupert maintains a database of more than 7,600 investment firms, each mapped to the stages, sectors and geographies it says it invests in. Filtered to firms headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area, it gives this picture:
| Silicon Valley early-stage market | Figure |
|---|---|
| Investment firms headquartered in the Bay Area | 748 |
| Of those, active at Pre-Seed, Seed or Series A | 614 |
| Share of all US early-stage firms in the database | 28% (614 of 2,166) |
| Early-stage firms on the Peninsula and in the South Bay | 304 |
| Early-stage firms in San Francisco | 253 |
| Early-stage firms in Palo Alto and Menlo Park alone | 165 |
| Invest at both Seed and Series A | 87% |
| List AI/ML as a focus | 53% (vs 31% of early-stage firms elsewhere in the US) |
| List at least one geography outside the US | 42% |
| Early-stage firms based elsewhere with a Bay Area office | 115 |
Source: Rupert fund database, November 2026. Firms counted by headquarters; stages, sectors and geographies as each firm states them.
Three things stand out.
More than a quarter of America’s early-stage firms are in one region. The Bay Area isn’t the only place to raise a seed or Series A round, but no other region comes close in density. For founders that cuts both ways: more potential investors, and more founders competing for each partner’s attention.
“Seed firm” and “Series A firm” are mostly labels. Only 21 of the 614 early-stage firms say they invest at Seed but not Series A, and only 58 say the reverse. The rest do both. What separates them in practice is whether they lead, how much they write and how early they’re willing to go, which is why the profiles below focus on those points.
The sector tilt is real. AI and machine learning appear in the stated focus of 53% of Bay Area early-stage firms, against 31% of early-stage firms in the rest of the US. Infrastructure (24% vs 12%), robotics (13% vs 6%) and deep tech (10% vs 5%) follow the same pattern. Fintech does not: about a third of firms list it in both groups. If you’re building AI or infrastructure, Silicon Valley’s investor base is unusually deep for you. In other sectors the Bay Area is still large, but your relative advantage there is smaller.
The Top Series A Investors in Silicon Valley
These firms invest across stages and regularly lead Series A rounds. Most also invest at seed, often through a dedicated fund or program.
Sequoia Capital
Based: Menlo Park · Stages: Seed to growth · Latest early-stage funds: $750M Series A fund and $200M seed fund (October 2025)
Sequoia’s newest early-stage capital came in two pieces: a $750 million fund aimed at Series A companies and a $200 million seed fund, announced in October 2025 at sizes close to the funds they replaced. Its seed and Series A portfolio includes Clay, Harvey, n8n, Sierra and Temporal, and it wrote the first check into companies such as Xbow and Reflection AI. Sequoia also runs Arc, a program for seed-stage founders.
Best fit: founders who want a lead investor at seed or Series A and expect to keep raising from the same firm as they grow.
Andreessen Horowitz (a16z)
Based: Menlo Park and San Francisco · Stages: Seed to growth · Latest raise: more than $15B across its funds (January 2026)
a16z raised more than $15 billion in January 2026, split across growth, AI applications, AI infrastructure, American Dynamism (defense and industrial), and bio and health funds. The firm is organized by sector, so the team you pitch depends on what you build. For the earliest founders, its speedrun program invests up to $1 million: $500,000 for 10% on a SAFE, plus $500,000 in the company’s next round if it closes within 18 months. It is very selective; TechCrunch reported an acceptance rate below 0.4%. At the other end of the seed spectrum, a16z led Thinking Machines Lab’s $2 billion seed round in 2025.
Best fit: founders whose company sits squarely inside one of a16z’s sector theses, and pre-seed founders who can make the cut for speedrun.
Accel
Based: Palo Alto · Stages: Seed to growth · Latest early-stage funds: $3.5B across four funds, including $800M for the US (August 2026)
Accel raised $3.5 billion for early-stage investing in August 2026: $800 million for the US, $800 million for Europe and Israel, $550 million for India and $1.35 billion for larger early-stage checks and follow-ons. Its stated focus is AI applications and infrastructure, plus deep tech such as materials science and manufacturing. Accel led Lovable’s $200 million Series A in 2025 and joined Periodic Labs’ $300 million seed.
Best fit: AI and software founders, including those building from Europe or Israel who want a firm with a Silicon Valley base.
Benchmark
Based: San Francisco · Stages: Historically Series A; now seed through Series B · Latest early-stage fund: $750M (June 2026)
Benchmark was famous for doing almost one thing: leading Series A rounds from small funds of about $425 million. In June 2026 it raised a $750 million early-stage fund and its first growth fund, and a general partner said the firm can now start at seed, Series A or Series B. Recent bets lean toward AI agents. Benchmark led Mercor’s $30 million Series A in 2024.
Best fit: founders looking for a hands-on lead investor from a small partnership.
Lightspeed Venture Partners
Based: Menlo Park · Stages: Seed to Series F · Latest raise: more than $9B across six funds (December 2025)
Lightspeed’s December 2025 raise was the largest in its history. The firm says most of the more than $5.5 billion it has invested in AI went in at Seed, Series A or Series B, and it lists enterprise, consumer, health, fintech, frontier tech and AI as its focus. It led Mistral AI’s €105 million seed round in 2023 and was an early investor in Wiz, Rubrik, Glean and Abridge.
Best fit: founders who want a multi-stage firm that can lead early and keep investing through later rounds.
Kleiner Perkins
Based: Menlo Park · Stages: Seed to growth · Latest early-stage fund: KP22, $1B (March 2026)
Kleiner announced KP22, a $1 billion early-stage fund, alongside $2.5 billion for growth in March 2026. At the early stage it is backing AI across professional services, healthcare, autonomy, security, financial services, productivity and the physical economy. Recent leads include Phia’s $8 million seed (2025), Multiply Mortgage’s $23.5 million Series A (2025) and Traversal’s Series A.
Best fit: AI founders applying the technology to a specific industry, at seed or Series A.
Founders Fund
Based: San Francisco · Stages: Seed to growth · Latest early-stage fund: Founders Fund IX, close to $1B (SEC filing, October 2025)
Founders Fund backs what it calls revolutionary technology and has a long record of very early bets, including Anduril from its first seed round. Its latest early-stage vehicle, Founders Fund IX, reported about $972 million in its October 2025 SEC filing, and it is reported to be closing a growth fund of about $6 billion. It led Netic’s Series A in 2025 and then its $23 million Series B.
Best fit: founders building hard technology or contrarian ideas who want an investor comfortable with large, unconventional bets.
The Top Seed and Early-Stage Firms in Silicon Valley
These firms are strongest before Series A: at pre-seed, at seed, or before the company exists at all.
Greylock
Based: San Francisco and Menlo Park · Stages: Pre-idea to Series A, plus later rounds · Latest fund: Greylock 18, $1.5B (July 2026)
Greylock raised Greylock 18, a $1.5 billion early-stage fund, in July 2026, framed around AI-native founders. Each partner makes only one or two new investments a year. Its Greylock Edge program is a three-month company-building program for founders from before they have an idea through seed, and lets the founder choose how to take capital: a full round, an uncapped note or none. Greylock led Netic’s seed round and led Greenlite AI’s Series A after investing in its seed.
Best fit: technical founders who want a lead investor very early, sometimes before the company exists.
Khosla Ventures
Based: Menlo Park · Stages: Pre-seed and seed to Series A, plus later rounds · Latest fund: reported to be raising up to $5.5B (July 2026)
Khosla says it invests earliest, from pre-seed and seed to Series A, and at seed it is often the only institutional investor in the round. Its sectors span consumer, enterprise, fintech, frontier technology, medtech and diagnostics, digital health, therapeutics and sustainability. In July 2026 it was reported to be raising up to $5.5 billion, including about $1 billion for seed. Khosla says it was OpenAI’s first institutional investor, and it led the seed rounds of Glydways and Pramaana Labs.
Best fit: founders with an ambitious technical idea who want one committed investor at seed rather than a crowded round.
First Round Capital
Based: San Francisco, New York and Philadelphia · Stages: Seed
First Round was founded to invest only at seed and still works before product-market fit, across AI, consumer, enterprise software, fintech, hardware and healthcare. It led Uber’s seed round in 2010 and Looker’s in 2013.
Best fit: first-time founders raising a seed round who want an investor with a deep playbook for the first years of a company.
Floodgate
Based: Menlo Park · Stages: Pre-seed and seed · Latest fund: Fund VIII (SEC filing, April 2026)
Floodgate calls itself one of the very first seed funds and focuses on companies before product-market fit. It was an early backer of Twitter, Okta, Lyft and Applied Intuition. More recently it led Bluejay’s $4 million seed round in 2025 and led Coolant’s pre-seed round.
Best fit: founders with a contrarian thesis at pre-seed or seed who want a small, focused partnership.
Pear VC
Based: Menlo Park · Stages: Pre-seed and seed · Latest fund: Fund V, $333M (October 2026)
Pear closed its $333 million Fund V in October 2026, bringing its assets under management above $1.1 billion. It focuses on pre-seed and seed across AI, cloud and data infrastructure, consumer, fintech, healthcare and robotics. Its PearX program invests $500,000 to $2 million. Pear backed DoorDash before it launched and invested in Gusto and Guardant Health at founding.
Best fit: pre-seed and first-time founders who want hands-on support from day one.
Silicon Valley Firms for AI and B2B Software
Most firms above invest in AI. These three are built around it, or around business software more broadly, and lead most of their investments at Seed or Series A.
Felicis
Based: Menlo Park and San Francisco · Stages: Mostly Seed and Series A · Latest fund: Fund X, $900M (June 2025)
Felicis says 93% of its previous fund went into seed and Series A rounds it led or co-led, and more than 70% of its active portfolio is AI-native. Its focus areas are AI-first companies, cybersecurity, infrastructure, global resilience (defense and energy), and health and biotech. Recent Series A leads include LMArena (2026) and Terra Security (2025).
Best fit: AI and security founders who want a lead at seed or Series A.
Redpoint Ventures
Based: San Francisco · Stages: Seed to Series B (early funds), plus growth · Latest early-stage fund: $650M (May 2025)
Redpoint raised its tenth early-stage fund, $650 million, in May 2025, alongside a $740 million growth fund. Its recent investments are concentrated in enterprise software, infrastructure and AI. It led Serval’s $47 million Series A and Aaru’s Series A, both in late 2025.
Best fit: enterprise and infrastructure founders raising a Series A.
Emergence Capital
Based: San Francisco · Stages: Mainly Seed and Series A · Latest fund: Emergence VII, $1B (March 2025)
Emergence raised a $1 billion seventh fund in March 2025, nearly double its previous fund, to invest mainly at Seed and Series A in enterprise AI, the future of work and SaaS. Each partner backs about one new company a year. It led Adaptive’s $19 million Series A in 2024.
Best fit: B2B software founders selling to businesses, especially with an AI-driven workflow product.
Raising From Silicon Valley When You’re Not There
Four in ten Bay Area early-stage firms list at least one geography outside the US. In Rupert’s data, 130 of them include the UK or Europe, 79 include Canada or North America, 66 include Israel and 62 include India. Another 115 early-stage firms headquartered somewhere else, in the US and abroad, keep an office in the Bay Area.
That doesn’t make location irrelevant. Plenty of firms still prefer companies they can reach in an afternoon, and US-led rounds often expect a US entity, commonly a Delaware C-corp. But a founder in Toronto, London or Austin with a real fit for a firm’s thesis is not ruled out by geography alone. Check where a firm’s recent investments are based before deciding it’s out of reach.
What We See Working With Silicon Valley Investors
Rupert’s founder, Dori Fussmann, has raised venture capital as a founder, worked on financings as an investment banker and CFO, and now runs investor outreach for founders. Three lessons come up again and again with Silicon Valley investors.
1. Fund size doesn’t matter. Check size does.
It’s tempting to rank firms by assets under management and aim at the top of the list. What matters is narrower: does this firm invest at your stage, and can it write the check you need? A $300 million fund that leads seed rounds in your sector is a better target than a $10 billion fund whose smallest check is several times your round. If a firm invests at your stage and writes your size of check, it’s worth approaching, whatever the size of the fund.
2. Warm introductions are great. Scale is better.
Warm introductions are valuable. They’re also hard to get and nearly impossible to scale, and waiting for them is one of the most common reasons a raise stalls. Don’t let them become your bottleneck. Build a complete list of relevant investors, approach them systematically, one by one, and let the numbers work in your favor. Fundraising is partly a numbers game, and founders who run it as a disciplined process, with a real list and consistent follow-up, give themselves the most chances.
3. Investors don’t just invest in companies. They invest in momentum.
Sometimes an investor is betting on your company. Sometimes they’re betting on a market, a trend, or whatever is generating excitement right now. Understand where the market’s attention is and what investors are excited about, and position your narrative accordingly. The same company can be described as workflow software or as the AI layer for back-office finance, and the second framing may land with a very different set of partners.
Pro tip: download the company list from Y Combinator’s latest batch, feed it into an AI tool, and ask it to identify recurring themes, emerging categories, common business models and investment patterns. Look at what keeps showing up, then use it to sharpen your narrative. YC invests in a large group of companies several times a year on a standard deal of $500,000, so each batch is a useful snapshot of what one of the most active early-stage investors is backing right now. It won’t tell you exactly where the money is going, but it’s a good indication of where the wind is blowing.
How to Get a Meeting Without a Warm Introduction
Several of the firms above run programs that founders can apply to directly, such as a16z speedrun, Greylock Edge and PearX. For everything else, what separates outreach that gets read from outreach that doesn’t is rarely the channel. It’s relevance.
- Start from fit, not fame. Filter by stage, check size and sector before brand. The profiles above are a starting point; the hundreds of smaller Bay Area firms behind them are where many seed rounds come together.
- Find the right partner, not the firm’s general inbox. At firms organized by sector, the partner who covers your category is the only person who matters for the first conversation.
- Write for that partner. Reference what they’ve backed and why your company fits their thesis. A short, specific email beats a long generic one. Our guide to cold emailing investors covers the structure.
- Run it as a process. Send in waves, follow up on a schedule and track every conversation. Momentum in a raise comes from many conversations moving at once, not one at a time.
- Be ready when they reply. Have the deck, the data room and a clear answer to “why now” before the first email goes out.
This is the work Rupert does for founders: building the investor list, writing outreach for each investor and running follow-up from the founder’s own inbox, while the founder keeps every investor relationship. If you’d rather spend your time on the company, see how it works.
Where Things Stand
Silicon Valley’s best-known firms raised large new early-stage funds in 2025 and 2026, including Sequoia’s $750M Series A fund, Accel’s $800M US early-stage fund, Kleiner’s $1B KP22 and Greylock’s $1.5B Greylock 18, and most of that capital is aimed at AI. Behind them, more than 600 Bay Area firms invest at Seed or Series A, nearly all at both stages. Capital is not the constraint for a strong company; reaching the right partner with the right story is.