# How to Pitch Menlo Ventures

November 13, 2026 · By [Josh May](https://www.pitchprotocol.vc/team.html#josh-may)

How Menlo Ventures invests from pre-seed to growth after its $3B 2026 raise, what the Anthology Fund with Anthropic and the Inception Fund publish about checks and timelines, and which partner covers your sector.

**TL;DR:** Menlo Ventures, founded in 1976 with $7.6B+ under management, announced $3B of new capital in June 2026 across a seed-to-Series A fund and a Series B-and-beyond fund, and says it is all in on AI. Its two programs publish what the main fund does not: the $100M Anthology Fund with Anthropic invests from $100,000 at pre-seed to Series A and answers applications within two weeks, and the Inception Fund starts with a roughly $100K SAFE per founder. Main-fund check sizes are not published.

## Menlo at a glance

Checked against Menlo's own pages and filings, November 2026

**Firm:** Menlo Ventures, "Established 1976" on Sand Hill Road; "$7.6B+" under management. [1, 2] Offices in San Francisco and Menlo Park. [13]

**Funds:** "$3B in Fresh Capital" announced June 23, 2026: Menlo Ventures XVII "invests from Seed to Series A" and Menlo Inflection IV "provides growth capital at Series B and beyond." [2] The SEC Form Ds of August 2025 carry offering amounts of $700M for XVII and $800M for Inflection IV; the firm does not publish per-fund sizes behind the $3B. [3, 4] Plus the $100M Menlo Anthology Fund with Anthropic. [5]

**Stages:** Three teams: Inception "helps founders validate early-stage ideas," Venture "provides series A and B startups with guidance," and Inflection "supports early growth-stage startups." [1] The Anthology Fund makes "Pre-Seed, Seed, and Series A investments ... as lead or participating investors." [5] Menlo led Cheiron's $8M seed and Pangram's seed in 2026. [11, 12]

**First check:** Main venture fund: not published. Anthology Fund: "investments starting at $100,000 (and up!)." [5] Inception Fund: "Typically, that starts with a small SAFE (~$100K per founder) to run an inception sprint." [6] Ownership target not published.

**Focus:** AI, Bio + Healthcare, Consumer, Cybersecurity, Defense, Fintech, Infrastructure, Robotics + Hardware, SaaS, and Supply Chain + Automation. [14] "Menlo is ALL IN on AI." [7]

**Geography:** Anthology Fund: "we prefer to invest in companies based in the U.S.," with exceptional international companies considered. [5] No firm-wide geography statement is published.

**Partners:** [Tim Tully](https://menlovc.com/team/tim-tully/) (AI and ML, AI infrastructure), [Matt Murphy](https://menlovc.com/team/matt-murphy/) (multi-stage, AI infrastructure and AI-native software), [Deedy Das](https://menlovc.com/team/deedy-das/) (AI and ML, next-generation infrastructure, enterprise software), [Amy Wu Martin](https://menlovc.com/team/amy-wu-martin/) (consumer, robotics and hardware), [Venky Ganesan](https://menlovc.com/team/venky-ganesan/) (AI-native software, cybersecurity, AI infrastructure), [Croom Beatty](https://menlovc.com/team/croom-beatty/) (application-layer AI, fintech, bio and healthcare), Shawn Carolan (AI, consumer, fintech), Matt Kraning (AI, infrastructure, defense), Greg Yap (bio and healthcare) and JP Sanday (AI, SaaS, bio and healthcare), per the team page's tags. [8]

**Recent seed leads:**

- Phylo, $13.5M seed, co-led with a16z through the Anthology Fund, February 2026 [9]
- BrainGrid, $1M pre-seed, led, March 2026 [10]
- Cheiron, $8M seed, led, July 2026 [11]
- Pangram, seed, led through the Anthology Fund, July 2026 (size not stated) [12]

Amounts are whole rounds, not Menlo's share.

**Programs:** Menlo Anthology Fund: "a groundbreaking $100 million initiative created through a partnership between Menlo Ventures and Anthropic," investing from $100,000 at pre-seed to Series A, with Anthropic credits, workspace in the SF and Menlo Park offices and demo days; "you're not required to build on Claude." Rolling applications, "a response within two weeks." [5] Inception Fund: about 10 founders a year, "10-20 hours per week for idea vetting and iteration with the Menlo team for up to three months," for solo founders or teams that have not raised institutional capital; "You'll hear back within two weeks." [6]

**How to reach:** Two open applications: the [Anthology Fund application](https://menlovc.com/anthology-fund-application/) and the Inception Fund's form. [5, 6] The contact page lists investors@menlovc.com for the investment team and contact@menlovc.com for general inquiries. [13] The Anthology page says to "reach out to one of the Menlo partners named above; our email addresses are on our website bios." [5] No statement on cold inbound versus warm intros.

**Process:** Anthology and Inception: rolling, with a reply within two weeks. [5, 6] Main venture fund: not published.

1. [Menlo Ventures: About](https://menlovc.com/about/)
1. [Menlo Ventures: Menlo turns 50 and announces $3B in fresh capital (June 2026)](https://menlovc.com/perspective/menlo-turns-50-and-announces-3b-in-fresh-capital-to-go-all-in-on-ai/)
1. [SEC Form D: Menlo Ventures XVII, L.P. (August 2025)](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/2079450/000110465925084691/xslFormDX01/primary_doc.xml)
1. [SEC Form D: Menlo Inflection IV, L.P. (August 2025)](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/2079452/000110465925084690/xslFormDX01/primary_doc.xml)
1. [Menlo Ventures: Menlo Anthology Fund](https://menlovc.com/menlo-anthology-fund/)
1. [Menlo Ventures: Inception Fund](https://menlovc.com/inception-fund/)
1. [Menlo Ventures: AI focus area](https://menlovc.com/focus-areas/ai/)
1. [Menlo Ventures: Team](https://menlovc.com/team/)
1. [Menlo Ventures: Why we're leading Phylo's seed round (February 2026)](https://menlovc.com/perspective/the-ide-that-biology-never-had-why-were-leading-phylos-seed-round)
1. [BrainGrid: BrainGrid raises $1M pre-seed (March 2026)](https://www.braingrid.ai/blog/braingrid-raises-1m-pre-seed)
1. [Menlo Ventures: Our investment in Cheiron (July 2026)](https://menlovc.com/perspective/a-unified-os-for-drug-development-our-investment-in-cheiron/)
1. [Menlo Ventures: Investing in Pangram (July 2026)](https://menlovc.com/perspective/investing-in-pangram-to-stop-ai-slop-on-the-internet/)
1. [Menlo Ventures: Contact](https://menlovc.com/contact/)
1. [Menlo Ventures: Home](https://menlovc.com/)

[Compare 27 top firms side by side](https://www.pitchprotocol.vc/blog/how-to-pitch-top-vc-firms/)

Menlo Ventures opened on Sand Hill Road in 1976 and turned fifty in 2026 by announcing $3 billion of new capital and declaring itself "ALL IN on AI." Its portfolio page lists Anthropic, Uber, Chime, Lovable, Suno, Abnormal AI, Fireworks and OpenEvidence. For a founder at seed, the firm matters for two reasons: its new flagship fund invests from seed to Series A, and its Anthology Fund with Anthropic is one of the few open applications at a multi-stage firm that publishes a check floor and a reply time.

## What Menlo Is

Menlo describes three teams. The Inception team "helps founders validate early-stage ideas, de-risk opportunities, and build successful foundations." The Venture team "provides series A and B startups with guidance and hands-on help." The Inflection team "supports early growth-stage startups during critical points as they prepare to scale." The June 2026 raise maps onto that: Menlo Ventures XVII "invests from Seed to Series A" and Menlo Inflection IV "provides growth capital at Series B and beyond."

The firm does not publish per-fund sizes behind the $3 billion; the SEC Form Ds filed in August 2025 show offering amounts of $700 million for XVII and $800 million for Inflection IV, and no amendment is on file. Treat $3 billion as the firm's own total and the filings as the record of what was registered.

Alongside the flagship funds sit two programs that publish more than the main fund does:

- **The Anthology Fund**: a $100 million initiative with Anthropic that makes "Pre-Seed, Seed, and Series A investments ... as lead or participating investors," starting at $100,000. You do not have to build on Claude to be backed
- **The Inception Fund**: a pre-seed program for about ten founders a year, starting with a small SAFE of roughly $100K per founder to run an "inception sprint," with 10 to 20 hours a week of the Menlo team's time for up to three months

## What Menlo Looks For

**1. Founders who pursue what could be.** The homepage line: "The founders we back don't limit themselves to what is, but relentlessly pursue what could be."

**2. AI that changes work and life.** "We invest in transformative, early-stage AI companies that are changing the way we live and work." The Anthology Fund names five areas: AI infrastructure including developer tools and middleware, novel AI applications across bio, healthcare, legal, financial services, supply chains, cloud infrastructure and cybersecurity, consumer AI, trust and safety tooling, and AI applications that maximize societal benefit.

**3. Technical or operational depth with a zero-to-one mindset.** The Inception Fund's ideal founder: "Deep experience as a technical or operational leader, paired with a zero-to-one mindset," solving "a venture-scale problem with AI."

**4. Building before the market can value it.** From the fifty-year post: "The most impactful companies often start building long before the market knows how to value them."

**5. Products people obsess over.** Amy Wu Martin's profile: she "seeks founders who share her obsession with products that define how people work, live, and play."

## What Menlo Needs to See

The main fund publishes no thresholds. The programs do, in the form of who they are for. Inception wants founders who are "very early: somewhere between exploring an opportunity and signing first customers," solo or in a team, and who "haven't raised any institutional capital." Anthology invests from seed to expansion stages and says applicants can reapply after three months. The 2026 seed leads were a biology IDE (Phylo), a drug-development operating system (Cheiron), an AI-content detector (Pangram) and a $1 million pre-seed (BrainGrid), so "all in on AI" has meant applied AI with a technical founder more than it has meant frontier models.

## How to Get a Menlo Meeting

- **Apply to the Anthology Fund**: the application is open and rolling, every applicant gets a response within two weeks, and the fund can lead a pre-seed, seed or Series A
- **Apply to the Inception Fund**: rolling as well, with a reply within two weeks; advancing founders meet the team, then diligence if there is a fit
- **Email the right partner**: Menlo publishes partner email addresses on its bios and says to reach out to the Anthology partners directly. The team page tags each partner by focus area, so match the tag before you write
- **The investment team inbox**: investors@menlovc.com is listed on the contact page. Menlo publishes no statement about cold inbound, so a referral from a portfolio founder still helps

## What Gets You Passed

- **Not AI, or AI as decoration**: the firm's stated position is that it is all in on AI, and both programs are AI-only by description
- **Already institutionally funded, for Inception**: that program is for founders who have not raised institutional capital
- **Outside the US, for Anthology**: the fund prefers US companies and considers international ones only when exceptional

## A second track: Pitch Protocol

Warm paths into a fund like Menlo take time. Pitch Protocol is not a route into Menlo; it is a second track you can run alongside your outreach. Applying is free, your own AI agent submits one application in about ten minutes with no web form, and the funds in our network whose thesis matches reach out to you directly. [Apply to the First 100 Founders Cohort →](https://www.pitchprotocol.vc)

## Founder FAQ

### Which Menlo partner should I pitch for my sector?

Menlo's [team page](https://menlovc.com/team/) tags each partner. AI infrastructure and AI-native software: [Tim Tully](https://menlovc.com/team/tim-tully/), [Matt Murphy](https://menlovc.com/team/matt-murphy/) and [Deedy Das](https://menlovc.com/team/deedy-das/). Cybersecurity and AI-native software: [Venky Ganesan](https://menlovc.com/team/venky-ganesan/). Consumer and robotics: [Amy Wu Martin](https://menlovc.com/team/amy-wu-martin/) and Shawn Carolan (also fintech). Application-layer AI, fintech and bio: [Croom Beatty](https://menlovc.com/team/croom-beatty/). Defense and infrastructure: Matt Kraning. Bio and healthcare: Greg Yap and JP Sanday.

### Does Menlo lead seed rounds?

Yes. Menlo Ventures XVII "invests from Seed to Series A" per the [June 2026 fund post](https://menlovc.com/perspective/menlo-turns-50-and-announces-3b-in-fresh-capital-to-go-all-in-on-ai/), the Anthology Fund invests at pre-seed, seed and Series A "as lead or participating investors," and in 2026 Menlo led [Cheiron's $8M seed](https://menlovc.com/perspective/a-unified-os-for-drug-development-our-investment-in-cheiron/) and [Pangram's seed](https://menlovc.com/perspective/investing-in-pangram-to-stop-ai-slop-on-the-internet/), and co-led Phylo's $13.5M seed with a16z.

### What is Menlo's typical check size?

The main venture fund does not publish one. The [Anthology Fund](https://menlovc.com/menlo-anthology-fund/) makes "investments starting at $100,000 (and up!)," and the [Inception Fund](https://menlovc.com/inception-fund/) typically starts "with a small SAFE (~$100K per founder)." No ownership target is published.

### Does Menlo invest outside the United States?

The [Anthology Fund](https://menlovc.com/menlo-anthology-fund/) says "we prefer to invest in companies based in the U.S." and considers exceptional international companies. Menlo publishes no firm-wide geography statement.

### How long does Menlo take to decide?

The two programs publish a timeline: the [Anthology Fund](https://menlovc.com/menlo-anthology-fund/) says "Applicants can expect a response within two weeks," and the [Inception Fund](https://menlovc.com/inception-fund/) says "You'll hear back within two weeks." The main venture fund publishes no process or timeline.

### Does Menlo take cold inbound?

Through its programs, yes: the [Anthology Fund application](https://menlovc.com/anthology-fund-application/) and the Inception Fund's form are open to anyone. The [contact page](https://menlovc.com/contact/) lists investors@menlovc.com for the investment team, and the Anthology page says partner emails are on their bios. Menlo publishes no statement on cold inbound versus warm intros for the main fund.

### What is the Menlo Anthology Fund?

A $100 million fund created with Anthropic that invests from $100,000 at pre-seed, seed and Series A, as lead or participating investor, in companies using AI across infrastructure, applications, consumer, trust and safety and societal benefit. Backed companies get Anthropic credits, workspace in Menlo's offices, quarterly deep dives and demo days; the [fund page](https://menlovc.com/menlo-anthology-fund/) says "you're not required to build on Claude."

## Frequently Asked Questions

### What is the Menlo Inception Fund?

Menlo's pre-seed program, formerly called Menlo Labs: about ten founders a year, each typically starting with a SAFE of roughly $100K per founder to run an "inception sprint" with 10 to 20 hours a week of the Menlo team's time for up to three months. It backs solo founders and teams that have not yet raised institutional capital, applications are rolling, and a board seat is taken only on a full pre-seed investment and case by case, per the [fund page](https://menlovc.com/inception-fund/).

### Does Menlo invest at growth stage?

Yes. Menlo Inflection IV "provides growth capital at Series B and beyond," and the firm's 2026 posts include Town's $108M Series B and Lovable's $400M Series C.

### Can I apply through Pitch Protocol instead of waiting for a warm intro?

Pitch Protocol is not a back door into Menlo, and we do not share which funds review an application before it is in. What it does: applying is free, your own AI agent (Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor or any agent that can read a URL) submits one application in about ten minutes with no web form, and the funds in our network whose thesis matches reach out to you directly. Founders anywhere can apply. Keep working your warm path to Menlo in parallel. [Apply to the First 100 Founders Cohort →](https://www.pitchprotocol.vc)

## Related guides

- [How to Pitch Greylock](https://www.pitchprotocol.vc/blog/how-to-pitch-greylock/): How Greylock backs founders from before the idea through Series A, what its $1.5 billion Greylock 18 means, and the published routes in, including Edge.
- [How to Pitch Lightspeed Venture Partners](https://www.pitchprotocol.vc/blog/how-to-pitch-lightspeed/): Lightspeed's enterprise/consumer duality, what their partners actually look for, and the pitch framework that lands.
- [How to Pitch NEA (New Enterprise Associates)](https://www.pitchprotocol.vc/blog/how-to-pitch-nea/): How NEA's technology and healthcare practices work, what its 2026 seed and Series A leads looked like, and how to find the right partner at a firm this broad.
- [How to Pitch Khosla Ventures](https://www.pitchprotocol.vc/blog/how-to-pitch-khosla/): Khosla Ventures' thesis on big, risky bets, what its Seed, Main and Opportunity funds each do, and how to frame the risk in your pitch.
- [How to Pitch Mayfield](https://www.pitchprotocol.vc/blog/how-to-pitch-mayfield/): How Mayfield invests from inception through Series B with $3B aimed at AI, what its AI Start seed fund publishes about $1M to $4M first checks, and the email address it reads ideas at.

Published by [Pitch Protocol](https://www.pitchprotocol.vc) · A [Growth Factory Ventures](https://growthfactory.vc) studio project · Published November 13, 2026

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