Khosla Ventures targets $5.5 billion in record fundraising push

Khosla Ventures, an early OpenAI backer, is raising $5.5 billion across three new funds — its largest haul in two decades.

Khosla Ventures is in discussions to raise as much as $5.5 billion across three new investment vehicles, a record for the 20-year-old firm that shows venture capital's accelerating bet on artificial intelligence.

"The firm is targeting $1 billion for seed-stage companies and $2 billion for early-stage ventures, with an additional $2.5 billion earmarked for more mature startups through an opportunity fund," according to two people familiar with the matter, who asked to remain anonymous because the discussions are private.

The fundraising target surpasses the roughly $4 billion Khosla Ventures raised last year. The Menlo Park-based firm was the first outside investor in OpenAI and has since backed AI startups including Cognition, an AI coding company; Sakana AI, which is building a Japanese language model; and Physical Intelligence, which develops models for robotics.

The record haul reflects how early bets on transformative AI technology have emboldened venture firms to raise ever-larger pools of capital. Khosla joins a wave of firms pursuing their biggest funds ever: Menlo Ventures raised $3 billion last month, Founders Fund closed on $6 billion, and Sequoia Capital raised about $7 billion for late-stage investments — all partly driven by the capital demands of AI startups.

Three Funds, Three Stages

Khosla's fundraising plan allocates capital across the startup lifecycle. The seed fund, at roughly $1 billion, targets the youngest companies, while the $2 billion venture fund backs early-stage startups. The opportunity fund, at about $2.5 billion, focuses on more mature businesses that require larger checks — a structure that mirrors the industry's shift toward writing bigger rounds for longer-held portfolio companies. The final sizes of each fund could still change as discussions continue, the people said.

AI Returns Fuel Fundraising Boom

Khosla Ventures' early bet on OpenAI — the firm was its first outside investor — has generated returns that now anchor its fundraising pitch. The firm has since seeded a portfolio of high-profile AI bets, positioning it to capitalize on the technology's rapid adoption across industries.

Founder Vinod Khosla, who started the firm in 2004, recently led an investor group to buy the Seattle Seahawks for $9.6 billion, a deal that would set a National Football League record. On a recent fundraising call, investors were told Khosla has no intention of running the team and remains focused on his venture investing business, according to people familiar with the matter.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.