- Published on March 25, 2025
- In AI Startups
What Made Menlo Ventures Bet on Anthropic?
Deedy Das explains the strategy behind big VC bets in an otherwise uncertain AI landscape.
- By Aditi Suresh
AI startup Anthropic, founded in 2021 and led by former OpenAI employees Dario and Daniela Amodei, recently raised $3.5 billion in a funding round, valuing the company at $61.5 billion. AIM spoke with Debarghya (Deedy) Das of Menlo Ventures, the principal overseeing Anthropic’s investment, among others, to understand what drew them to Anthropic.
Explaining the underlying belief, Das said, “We thought if OpenAI can be this big, Anthropic can definitely be huge.” Anthropic’s annual recurring revenue (ARR) grew from $1 billion to $1.4 billion in just six weeks, which was unprecedented at the time.
AI startups are raising massive rounds often without a tangible product in sight. Safe Superintelligence (SSI), founded by former OpenAI chief scientist Ilya Sutskever, is
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Aditi Suresh
I hold a degree in political science, and am interested in how AI and online culture intersect. I am at aditi.suresh@analyticsindiamag.com & x.com/aditisuresh12
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