# Menlo Ventures raises a record $3 billion fund on the back of its early Anthropic bet

> Menlo's fundraise is really a story about how concentrated AI venture returns have become: one early, oversized bet on Anthropic now anchors the firm's entire fifty year track record and its ability to raise a record fund. It shows limited partners are still willing to pour money into AI focused vehicles even as questions swirl about lab valuations, as long as a firm can point to a real realized winner. Expect more venture firms to lean on a single marquee AI stake the way Menlo is leaning on Anthropic's.

_Section: [AI Funding Tracker](https://www.wortins.com/funding) · Source: TechCrunch · Published Sunday, July 5, 2026_

## Wortins' read

Menlo's fundraise is really a story about how concentrated AI venture returns have become: one early, oversized bet on Anthropic now anchors the firm's entire fifty year track record and its ability to raise a record fund. It shows limited partners are still willing to pour money into AI focused vehicles even as questions swirl about lab valuations, as long as a firm can point to a real realized winner. Expect more venture firms to lean on a single marquee AI stake the way Menlo is leaning on Anthropic's.

## Source

[Read the full story at TechCrunch](https://techcrunch.com/2026/06/23/after-betting-the-firm-on-anthropic-menlo-ventures-raises-victorious-3b-fund/)

## Related coverage

- [Apple's Camera AirPods Leak Shows Visual Intelligence Coming to Wearables](https://www.wortins.com/story/apple-s-camera-airpods-leak-shows-visual-intelligence-coming-53cc34b8) — [TechCrunch](https://techcrunch.com/2026/08/18/apples-new-macos-update-reportedly-contains-a-video-of-airpods-with-a-camera/)
- [AI's Tendency to Lie and Cheat Is Written Into Its Training](https://www.wortins.com/story/ai-s-tendency-to-lie-and-cheat-is-written-into-its-training-7e473677) — [Bloomberg Opinion](https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2026-08-18/ai-s-tendency-to-lie-and-cheat-is-written-into-its-training)
- [Alipay unveils full-stack agentic commerce platform at Hangzhou conference](https://www.wortins.com/story/alipay-unveils-full-stack-agentic-commerce-platform-at-hangz-baf81ec6) — [MicroCenter News](https://www.microcenter.com/site/mc-news/article/this-week-in-ai-august-7-2026.aspx)
- [Reach Capital Closes $265M Fund V for AI Application Founders](https://www.wortins.com/story/reach-capital-closes-265m-fund-v-for-ai-application-founders-283c2788) — [TechCrunch](https://techcrunch.com/2026/08/18/reach-capital-raises-265m-fund-v-to-back-ai-founders-building-to-expand-human-potential/)
- [CXMT Memory Chip Maker Surges 500% as China Pushes Semiconductor Independence](https://www.wortins.com/story/cxmt-memory-chip-maker-surges-500-as-china-pushes-semiconduc-b1453400) — [Bloomberg](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-08-18/cxmt-memory-chip)
- [Alibaba Launches Qwen3.8-Max: 2.4 Trillion-Parameter Model Challenging Frontier Frontrunners](https://www.wortins.com/story/alibaba-launches-qwen3-8-max-2-4-trillion-parameter-model-ch-cfc171e0) — [SiliconANGLE](https://siliconangle.com/2026/08/03/alibaba-debuts-qwen3-8-max-model-2-4t-parameters/)

---

_Curated and written by [Wortins](https://www.wortins.com) — The daily AI briefing. Every story links to its original source; the "Wortins read" on each is our own original analysis. [About Wortins & our editorial approach](https://www.wortins.com/about)._