Bain Capital Ventures Closes $1.9B Worth Of Funds

Venture funding may be slowing, but venture fundraising sure isn’t.

San Francisco-based Bain Capital Ventures — known for its investments in companies such as LinkedIn, DocuSign and Twilio — announced the close of two funds totaling $1.9 billion. 

The firm will use the new funds to invest in startups from seed to growth rounds within fintech, infrastructure, apps and commerce.

The fundraise announcement is larger than the one BCV made in May 2021 — a $1.3 billion fund to invest in earlier-stage companies. In addition, last year Bain Capital Crypto was unveiled, with $500 million under management.

Investing in VC

Much has been made about the large funds being announced even amid a venture capital pullback in funding. VC firms have been raising larger funds more frequently, reaching out to LPs for new allotments of cash as often as every 18 months even as valuations on many startups are being slashed.

In a blog post, Kevin Zhang, a partner at BCV, seemed to recognize the changing, uneven environment.

“There is immense responsibility in managing dollars entrusted to us by our limited partners,” wrote Zhang. “In a difficult market where their commitment to venture overall may be shrinking, we are especially grateful for their confidence in sustaining and expanding their partnerships with us.”

Like many in the venture world, BCV has pulled back in the market slightly through the last year.

In the first and second quarters of 2022, BCV took part in 39 deals, according to Crunchbase data. However, in the last two quarters of the year — as the venture market started to cool off significantly, especially for startups looking to raise large late growth rounds — BCV only took part in 20 rounds total, per Crunchbase.

Thus far in 2023, BCV only has taken part in four announced deals, including a $45 million Series B for Iowa-based financial services tools developer Moov.

Illustration: Dom Guzman

Learn More