20 venture capital firms investing in California companies in 2026

California pulled in $63.2B across 2,800+ deals in 2025. That's down from 2021 peaks but still more than the next five states combined. The Bay Area dominates with 70% of deal volume, but LA and San Diego are growing fast. You'll find more capital here than anywhere else, but competition for attention is brutal.

Quick list

Why California still dominates startup funding

California closed $63.2B in 2025 across every stage and sector. That's 45% of all US venture capital despite being 12% of the population. The Bay Area alone has 180+ active VC firms writing checks from $100K to $500M.

You'll find seed capital in SF, growth equity in Menlo Park, and specialized funds in Palo Alto. LA investors focus more on consumer, media, and entertainment tech. San Diego has carved out biotech and life sciences. Average seed round is $3.2M, Series A is $18M, Series B hits $45M.

The concentration creates advantages and problems. You can meet 50 investors in two weeks of coffee meetings. But 200 other founders are pitching the same VCs this month. California investors see thousands of decks. Standing out requires traction, not just slides.

Most national funds have California offices. They come here to deploy capital. If you're building something ambitious, California has more patient capital and bigger follow-on rounds than anywhere else. The downside is everyone optimizes for growth over profitability. Burn $2M monthly and most California VCs won't blink. That doesn't work if you're building a sustainable business.

Picking the right California investor

Geographic focus: Bay Area funds will invest in LA companies, but they prefer local. Sequoia, Benchmark, and Greylock want you within driving distance for board meetings. Remote-friendly funds like Initialized and Felicis care less about location, but they still expect quarterly in-person updates in SF.

Portfolio relevance: Check their last 20 investments, not their website's "portfolio highlights." If they haven't backed a company in your category since 2019, you're educating them. That takes 6 months longer. Look for funds that led rounds in adjacent spaces recently. Emergence only does enterprise SaaS. Don't pitch them consumer apps.

Check sizes: Seed funds here write $500K-$3M checks. Series A funds expect $10-25M rounds. Benchmark and Sequoia lead large rounds but their bar is top 1% of companies. Mid-tier firms like CRV and Lightspeed are more accessible and still write $15M checks. Match your raise size to their typical lead amounts. Use targeted outreach tactics when approaching the right firms.

California network effects: The real value isn't capital, it's intros. Greylock can connect you to LinkedIn executives. Kleiner has decades of relationships at Google. Andreessen gets you meetings with Meta product leaders. Ask portfolio founders which intros actually happened versus which were promised.

Deck sharing mechanics: Upload to Ellty and create unique tracking links for each fund. You'll see which California VCs actually open your deck versus which ones ghost after the intro call. Bay Area investors typically review decks within 24 hours. If they haven't opened it in three days, they're not interested. Track which slides get the most attention and adjust your follow-up email based on what they studied.

Follow-on capacity: Most California funds have $500M+ under management. They can lead your next three rounds. But seed specialists like Initialized won't have capital for your Series B. Plan your cap table accordingly. If you take money from a fund that can't follow-on, you'll need new lead investors every 18 months. That resets relationships and extends your fundraising timeline. When sharing your deck, use our trackable links so you can see exactly who engages.

How to find and approach California investors

Track recent deals: Check Crunchbase and Pitchbook for California investments in the last 90 days. Filter by your sector and stage. Focus on funds that led rounds, not participants. The lead investor makes decisions. Download their portfolio list and find overlap with competitors or adjacent companies. That's your warm intro path.

Use local infrastructure: YCombinator, Alchemist, and 500 Global run the biggest Bay Area accelerator programs. Their demo days get 300+ investors. Join on-deck or South Park Commons for founder communities that share investor intros. These networks matter more than cold emails. Founders who went through the same program will intro you if your company is solid.

Build relationships over months: California investors meet 10-15 founders per week. You won't get funded in one meeting. Plan four touchpoints over 12 weeks. First meeting is mutual exploration. Second meeting includes early data. Third meeting shows traction since last conversation. Fourth meeting is partner meeting. Skip this sequence and you'll get "too early" rejections.

Share trackable pitch decks: Upload your deck to Ellty before sending it to California VCs. Create a unique link for each fund so you can see who actually views it. Bay Area investors will forward your deck to partners. You'll see exactly who on the investment team opened it and which slides they spent time on. That intel tells you whether to follow up or move on.

Attend the right events: Skip startup conferences. Go to industry-specific events where VCs are speakers or attendees. SaaStr Annual for B2B software. TechCrunch Disrupt for consumer. SF Climate Week for climate tech. AGI House events for AI founders. These gatherings have 50-100 investors versus 5,000 founders at generic startup conferences. Better ratio.

Connect with portfolio founders: Every California VC lists portfolio companies on their website. Message 5-10 founders from companies at your stage. Ask about their experience with that investor. You'll learn if the fund is helpful, hands-off, or difficult. Most founders will tell you honestly. If they dodge the question, that's your answer. Use these conversations to get warm intros when the feedback is positive and then send a pitch deck professionally.

Organize due diligence early: Set up an Ellty data room before partner meetings start. Include your financial model, cap table, customer references, and key contracts. California investors move fast when they're interested. They'll ask for diligence materials 48 hours after partner meeting. Having everything ready in a clean data room versus scrambling through email attachments makes you look competent. Track which documents they actually review.

Understand the pace: Seed rounds in California close in 4-8 weeks if you have multiple term sheets. Series A takes 8-12 weeks with one interested lead. Series B and beyond can stretch to 16 weeks with extensive diligence. Funds here see so many deals that they'll slow-play you while evaluating alternatives. Competitive tension speeds this up. Create urgency with real deadlines and other interested investors.

California-specific considerations

California investors expect hyper-growth. They want 3x year-over-year revenue and clear path to $100M ARR. Profitability isn't the goal until Series C. This works if you're building a venture-scale business. It's terrible if you want to build a sustainable $10M ARR company.

The concentration of capital means you'll burn bridges if you waste investor time. Bay Area VCs talk to each other. If you pitch Sequoia with no traction and vague answers, other Sand Hill Road funds will hear about it. Come prepared with data, clear metrics, and honest answers about what's not working.

Competition is extreme. You're pitching against 50 other founders with similar ideas, better traction, or Stanford pedigrees. California investors can afford to be picky. They'll pass on good companies because great companies are pitching them the same week. That's not fair, but it's reality.

20 top investors in California

1. Sequoia Capital

They wrote the book on venture capital and everyone else copied it.

• Recent Deals: Stripe Series I ($6.5B, 2025), Deel Series D ($500M, 2025), Figma acquisition discussions (2024-2025)
• LinkedIn: Michael Moritz, Roelof Botha
• Sector Focus: Enterprise SaaS, fintech, AI infrastructure, developer tools
• Stage Focus: Seed, Series A, Series B, Growth
• Office Location: 2800 Sand Hill Road, Menlo Park
• Website: sequoiacap.com

2. Andreessen Horowitz

Operates more like an investment bank than a traditional VC firm.

• Recent Deals: Figure AI Series B ($2.6B, February 2025), Databricks Series I ($500M, 2025), Flow real estate ($350M, 2024)
• LinkedIn: Marc Andreessen, Ben Horowitz
• Sector Focus: AI/ML, crypto, enterprise software, biotech, consumer
• Stage Focus: Seed, Series A, Series B, Growth
• Office Location: 2865 Sand Hill Road, Menlo Park
• Website: a16z.com

3. Accel

European roots but fully embedded in Silicon Valley now.

• Recent Deals: Vercel Series E ($250M, September 2025), Webflow Series C ($120M, 2025), Ethos life insurance ($200M, 2024)
• LinkedIn: Andrew Braccia, Ping Li
• Sector Focus: Developer tools, enterprise SaaS, fintech, consumer
• Stage Focus: Seed, Series A, Series B
• Office Location: 275 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto
• Website: accel.com

4. Lightspeed Venture Partners

Consumer investors who pivoted hard to enterprise after 2022.

• Recent Deals: Rippling Series B ($13.5B valuation, 2025), Affirm late-stage rounds (2024-2025), Guardant Health pre-IPO (2024)
• LinkedIn: Jeremy Liew, Gaurav Gupta
• Sector Focus: Enterprise SaaS, fintech, healthtech, consumer
• Stage Focus: Seed, Series A, Series B, Growth
• Office Location: 2200 Sand Hill Road, Menlo Park
• Website: lsvp.com

5. Kleiner Perkins

50+ years of Silicon Valley history but still relevant today.

• Recent Deals: Zipline Series F ($330M, April 2025), Glean AI Series D ($200M, 2025), Desktop Metal late-stage (2024)
• LinkedIn: Mamoon Hamid, Ilya Fushman
• Sector Focus: Enterprise software, robotics, healthcare, climate tech
• Stage Focus: Series A, Series B, Series C
• Office Location: 2750 Sand Hill Road, Menlo Park
• Website: kleinerperkins.com

6. Greylock Partners

LinkedIn, Facebook, and Airbnb early investor with serious network effects.

• Recent Deals: Coda Series D ($100M, 2025), Palo Alto Networks late-stage rounds (2024), Discord growth rounds (2024-2025)
• LinkedIn: Reid Hoffman, Sarah Guo
• Sector Focus: Enterprise infrastructure, consumer social, cybersecurity, AI
• Stage Focus: Seed, Series A, Series B
• Office Location: 2929 Campus Drive, San Mateo
• Website: greylock.com

7. Benchmark

Small partnership with absurdly high hit rate on investments.

• Recent Deals: Writer AI Series B ($1.9B valuation, September 2025), Amplitude growth rounds (2024-2025), Confluent pre-IPO (2024)
• LinkedIn: Bill Gurley, Sarah Tavel
• Sector Focus: Enterprise SaaS, developer platforms, marketplaces
• Stage Focus: Series A, Series B
• Office Location: 140 New Montgomery Street, San Francisco
• Website: benchmark.com

8. Index Ventures

European fund with strong Bay Area presence and AI focus.

• Recent Deals: Scale AI Series F ($1B, $14B valuation, 2025), Faire Series G ($400M, 2025), Ramp growth rounds (2024-2025)
• LinkedIn: Mike Volpi, Nina Achadjian
• Sector Focus: AI infrastructure, enterprise software, fintech, security
• Stage Focus: Series A, Series B, Growth
• Office Location: 140 Geary Street, San Francisco
• Website: indexventures.com

9. Founders Fund

Peter Thiel's contrarian bets on hard tech and defense.

• Recent Deals: Anduril Series F ($1.5B, August 2025), SpaceX secondary rounds (2024-2025), Palantir late-stage before DPO (2024)
• LinkedIn: Keith Rabois, Delian Asparouhov
• Sector Focus: Defense tech, aerospace, biotech, crypto
• Stage Focus: Series A, Series B, Series C, Growth
• Office Location: 394 Pacific Avenue, San Francisco
• Website: foundersfund.com

10. General Catalyst

East Coast fund that moved serious capital to Silicon Valley.

• Recent Deals: Samsara late-stage pre-IPO (2024), Livongo Health acquisition rounds (2024), Grammarly Series C ($200M, 2025)
• LinkedIn: Hemant Taneja, Niko Bonatsos
• Sector Focus: Healthcare, enterprise SaaS, fintech, climate tech
• Stage Focus: Seed, Series A, Series B, Growth
• Office Location: 20 University Road, Cambridge (primary), SF office at 156 2nd Street
• Website: generalcatalyst.com

11. NEA (New Enterprise Associates)

One of the largest VC firms globally with $25B under management.

• Recent Deals: Robinhood Series F (pre-IPO, 2024), Plaid Series D ($425M, 2024), Databricks late-stage rounds (2024-2025)
• LinkedIn: Forest Baskett, Carmen Chang
• Sector Focus: Fintech, healthcare, enterprise software, consumer tech
• Stage Focus: Series A, Series B, Series C, Growth
• Office Location: 2855 Sand Hill Road, Menlo Park
• Website: nea.com

12. Felicis

Aydin Senkut's early-stage fund with exceptional seed track record.

• Recent Deals: Notion early rounds (now $10B valuation), Census Series C ($145M, 2025), Canva growth rounds (2024-2025)
• LinkedIn: Aydin Senkut, Wesley Chan
• Sector Focus: Enterprise SaaS, AI tools, developer platforms, fintech
• Stage Focus: Seed, Series A
• Office Location: 2955 Campus Drive, San Mateo
• Website: felicis.com

13. CRV (Charles River Ventures)

Boston roots but California deals dominate their portfolio now.

• Recent Deals: Airtable Series F ($735M, $11B valuation, 2024), HubSpot early rounds (now public), Bird scooters growth rounds (2024)
• LinkedIn: Saar Gur, Murat Bicer
• Sector Focus: Enterprise SaaS, infrastructure, developer tools, fintech
• Stage Focus: Series A, Series B, Series C
• Office Location: 800 El Camino Real, Menlo Park
• Website: crv.com

14. GGV Capital

Cross-border investing between US and Asia with strong Bay Area presence.

• Recent Deals: Airwallex Series E ($100M, 2025), Wish late-stage rounds (2024), StockX Series D ($255M, 2024)
• LinkedIn: Jeff Richards, Glenn Solomon
• Sector Focus: Enterprise SaaS, fintech, consumer internet, cross-border commerce
• Stage Focus: Series A, Series B, Series C, Growth
• Office Location: 2458 Sand Hill Road, Menlo Park
• Website: ggvc.com

15. Khosla Ventures

Climate tech and hard science specialist with billionaire backing.

• Recent Deals: Commonwealth Fusion Systems Series B ($1.8B, 2024), Impossible Foods late-stage rounds (2024-2025), Quantumscape pre-IPO (2024)
• LinkedIn: Vinod Khosla, Samir Kaul
• Sector Focus: Climate tech, energy, biotech, hard tech, enterprise software
• Stage Focus: Seed, Series A, Series B, Growth
• Office Location: 2128 Sand Hill Road, Menlo Park
• Website: khoslaventures.com

16. Emergence Capital

Enterprise SaaS purists who won't look at anything else.

• Recent Deals: ServiceTitan Series F ($500M pre-IPO, 2024), Zoom early rounds (now public), Veeva Systems early investor (now public)
• LinkedIn: Jason Green, Santi Subotovsky
• Sector Focus: Enterprise SaaS only (vertical SaaS, infrastructure, productivity)
• Stage Focus: Series A, Series B, Series C
• Office Location: 160 Bovet Road, San Mateo
• Website: emcap.com

17. Mayfield Fund

50+ years backing Silicon Valley companies since 1969.

• Recent Deals: HashiCorp Series E ($175M, 2024 pre-IPO), Marketo early rounds (acquired), Lyft Series B ($60M, historical)
• LinkedIn: Navin Chaddha, Rajeev Batra
• Sector Focus: Enterprise infrastructure, AI/ML, cybersecurity, developer tools
• Stage Focus: Series A, Series B
• Office Location: 2484 Sand Hill Road, Menlo Park
• Website: mayfield.com

18. Initialized Capital

Garry Tan's seed fund with YC connections and technical founder bias.

• Recent Deals: Instacart seed round (now public), Coinbase seed ($600K became billions), Flexport Series A ($20M, 2024)
• LinkedIn: Garry Tan, Jen Wolf
• Sector Focus: Developer tools, fintech, enterprise SaaS, crypto
• Stage Focus: Seed, Series A
• Office Location: 1 Front Street, San Francisco
• Website: initialized.com

19. Coatue Management

Public-to-private crossover fund with $16B AUM and growth focus.

• Recent Deals: ByteDance late-stage rounds (2024-2025), Chime Series G ($750M, 2024), DoorDash late-stage pre-IPO (2024)
• LinkedIn: Philippe Laffont, Dan Rose
• Sector Focus: Consumer internet, fintech, enterprise software, AI
• Stage Focus: Series C, Series D, Growth, Pre-IPO
• Office Location: 2200 Sand Hill Road, Menlo Park (plus NYC headquarters)
• Website: coatue.com

20. Lux Capital

Deep tech and frontier science investors betting on hard problems.

• Recent Deals: Anduril Series E ($1.5B, 2024), Planet Labs SPAC merger ($2.8B, 2024), Recursion Pharmaceuticals Series D ($239M, 2024)
• LinkedIn: Josh Wolfe, Deena Shakir
• Sector Focus: Deep tech, aerospace, biotech, robotics, climate
• Stage Focus: Seed, Series A, Series B, Series C
• Office Location: 920 Broadway, New York (primary), SF presence at 156 2nd Street
• Website: luxcapital.com

Start tracking your California investor outreach

These 20 investors closed over $40B in California deals in 2024-2025. Before you start pitching Sand Hill Road funds, set up proper tracking so you're not wasting time on investors who ghost you.

Upload your deck to Ellty and create a unique link for each California VC. You'll see exactly which slides they view and how long they spend on your financials. Bay Area investors typically review decks within 24 hours, so you'll know fast if they're actually interested or just being polite. Track which partners on the investment team opened your deck - that tells you whether you made it past the associate screen.

When California investors ask for more materials during diligence, share an Ellty data room instead of messy email threads. Your cap table, financial model, customer references, and incorporation docs in one secure place with view analytics. You'll see which documents they actually review versus which ones they ignore. That tells you what they care about for your specific deal.

Common questions

Do I need to be based in California to raise from California investors?

No, but it helps for early rounds. Seed and Series A investors prefer you're local for frequent meetings. By Series B, location matters less if you have strong traction. Remote raises are harder but doable with the right metrics.

How does California compare to New York for fundraising?

California has 3x more capital and focuses on tech. New York investors prefer revenue-generating businesses and realistic burn rates. California will fund bigger losses for faster growth. Pick based on your business model.

What's the average seed round size in California?

$3.2M across Bay Area, LA, and San Diego. That's higher than most other states. Expect $500K-$1M checks from lead investors at seed stage. YC companies often raise $2-4M seed rounds here.

Should I raise locally in California or go straight to out-of-state VCs?

Raise in California if you're here. You have access to more capital than anywhere else. Out-of-state funds come to California to invest, so you're competing on their turf anyway. Use the local advantage.

Do California investors expect in-person meetings?

For first meetings and partner meetings, yes. Zoom works for updates and follow-ups. Most funds want to meet you in person at least twice before committing to a term sheet.

What industries get funded most in California?

Enterprise SaaS gets the most deals, followed by AI/ML infrastructure, fintech, and biotech. Consumer internet fell off after 2021 but still gets funded for exceptional teams. Climate tech is growing fast with specialized funds like Khosla.

How long does it take to close a round in California?

Seed rounds close in 4-8 weeks with term sheets. Series A takes 8-12 weeks. Series B and beyond can stretch to 16 weeks with full diligence. Having multiple interested investors speeds everything up through competitive tension.