Sequoia Capital Breaks Own Rules, Invests in Anthropic Despite Backing OpenAI and xAI
Summary
Sequoia Capital abandons its own investment principles by joining Anthropic's massive $25 billion funding round at a $350 billion valuation, despite already backing AI rivals OpenAI and xAI, marking a dramatic shift from the firm's previous stance of avoiding competing portfolio companies.
Key Points
- Sequoia Capital joins Anthropic's massive funding round despite already investing in OpenAI and xAI, breaking traditional venture capital practice of avoiding competing portfolio companies
- Anthropic seeks to raise $25 billion at a $350 billion valuation, more than doubling its $170 billion valuation from four months ago, with the round led by Singapore's GIC and Coatue
- The investment contradicts Sequoia's historical stance on portfolio conflicts, as the firm previously walked away from a $21 million investment in Finix due to competition with portfolio company Stripe