New Sequoia Leadership Approves First Investment in Anthropic, Securing $25 Billion in Funding

Sequoia Capital, a prominent Silicon Valley investor, has made its first investment in Anthropic. This funding round is set to value the artificial intelligence company at $350 billion.

According to the Financial Times, Sequoia Capital is preparing for a significant investment in Anthropic. This marks the first time the California-based venture capital firm has allocated funds to the creator of Claude.

The funding round is led by Singapore's sovereign wealth fund GIC and the US investor Coatue, each contributing $15 billion. Anthropic aims to raise a total of $250 billion. The valuation is expected to reach $350 billion, doubling from $170 billion four months ago. Microsoft and Nvidia have already committed to investments totaling up to $150 billion, with additional venture capital firms and investors anticipated to contribute $100 billion or more.

New Leadership Shifts from Old Strategy

This investment follows a leadership change at Sequoia. Former chief Roelof Botha previously avoided investing in Anthropic, cautioning against concentrating venture capital in a small number of high-value startups. He was replaced in November by Pat Grady and Lin Bin.

Sequoia has already invested in both OpenAI and Elon Musk's xAI. While venture capital firms typically avoid backing competing startups, the scale of the AI industry has altered this calculus. According to a source familiar with Sequoia, the size of this funding round has escalated significantly, shifting from traditional venture capital towards something closer to private equity investment.

Anthropic recently reported revenues of approximately $100 billion. The company is preparing for a potential initial public offering (IPO) later this year. Anthropic has engaged the law firm Wilson Sonsini for preparatory work and has held preliminary talks with banks regarding a public listing. Both OpenAI and SpaceX are also laying the groundwork for what could become one of the largest IPOs in history.