Mayfield raises nearly $1 billion for its two venture funds to invest in early-stage startup companies

Mayfield, a venture capital firm with a five decades history, announced today that it has secured $955 million in total for two venture capital funds. The first fund, Mayfield XVII, raised $580 million and will invest in seed and Series A companies. The second fund, Mayfield Select III, raised $375 million and will invest in Series B companies.

The news could not have come at a better time for the sector, as startups around the world struggle to raise funding due to the ongoing economic downturn and high-interest rates which makes borrowing more expensive.

“We could have raised $2 billion, but what will we do if we don’t believe in it – you just need a billion to be called a unicorn VC fund? There’s no such need,” Mayfield Managing Director Navin Chaddha said.

“Today, we are excited to share that we have raised $955 million across two new early-stage venture capital funds: Mayfield XVII ($580 million) and Mayfield Select III ($375 million) aka Mayfield Spring. Both funds became oversubscribed in a couple of weeks. With these new venture funds we have $3 billion in assets under management to champion entrepreneurs at the inception and early stages of company formation,” the firm said on its website.

Three years ago, the firm also closed on $750 million in new capital across two venture capital funds, the $475 million Mayfield XVI, which invests early-stage focus, primarily investing in companies at the ideation or early product/customers stage. Mayfield also raised $275 million for Mayfield Select II to invest in later-stage rounds of Mayfield breakout portfolio companies.

To date, Mayfield has invested in more than 550 companies, resulting in 120 IPOs and 225 acquisitions. Among its successful investments are Poshmark, which was acquired by Naver for $1.2 billion, and Mammoth Biosciences, Lyft, and SolarCity, which was acquired by Tesla.

“History has shown that when public markets are at their peak, venture funds are the worst performing,” Chaddha said. “When public markets come low, and when you invest over those years – the period we’re in right now – those are the golden years. It’s time to lean forward.”

Led by Navin Chaddha, Mayfield invests primarily in early-stage consumer, enterprise, and engineering biology companies. Since its inception 50 years ago, the firm has invested in more than 500 companies, resulting in 117 IPOs and more than 200 acquisitions. Some notable investments in recent years include CloudSimple, Elastica, Grove Collaborative, HashiCorp, Lyft, Mammoth Biosciences, Marketo, Moat, Outreach, Poshmark, ServiceMax, and SolarCity.