Kleiner Perkins announces $2 billion in fresh capital, showing that established firms can still raise large sums

Many VC firms are struggling to attract new capital from their own backers amid a tepid IPO environment.

But established, brand-name firms are still able to raise large funds.

On Friday, Kleiner Perkins announced that it closed on more than $2 billion in fresh capital across two funds, a slight increase from the 52-year-old firm’s $1.8 billion previous fundraise in early 2022.

Other prominent firms that successfully defied the VC fundraising slump this year include Andreessen Horowitz, which secured $7.2 billion for several of its funds; General Catalyst, which is reportedly wrapping up a $6 billion fundraise; and Norwest, with its $3 billion capital haul.

Kleiner Perkins said in a blog post that it will continue to invest in enterprise software, consumer, healthcare, fintech and hardtech startups, as it has for its previous fund. But what’s changed is the opportunity to make these industries more efficient with the help of AI.

The firm has already backed a few buzzy AI-driven startups, including business application search tool Glean and Harvey, an AI assistant for lawyers. However, compared to other large VC firms, Kleiner Perkins’s investments in prominent AI companies remains modest.

Founded in 1972, Kleiner Perkins was once considered to be one of the most elite firms in Silicon Valley. It was an early backer of companies like Amazon, Compaq Computer, Genentech, Netscape and Sun Microsystems. While the firm lost some of its prominence in the last tech boom, it still invested in a slew of eventual winners, including Airbnb, Instacart, Slack and Robinhood.