18 venture capital firms funding San Francisco startups in 2026

San Francisco raised $42.8B across 1,200+ deals in 2025. That's down from the 2021 peak but still more capital than any other US city. Most money went to AI, enterprise SaaS, and fintech. The bar is higher than it was three years ago. You'll compete with thousands of founders, but there's more smart money here than anywhere else.

Quick list

Why San Francisco for fundraising

San Francisco has more venture capital per capita than anywhere on earth. Average seed round hit $4.2M in 2025, nearly double Austin or Miami. Series A rounds averaged $18M. You'll find investors who've seen your exact business model fail three times and succeeded twice. That pattern recognition matters.

The competition is brutal. Every coffee shop in SoMa has five founders pitching. But you're also surrounded by the best technical talent, design talent, and go-to-market talent in the world. SF investors expect you to build a $1B+ company. They won't fund lifestyle businesses or modest exits, which is why sending a clean deck using proper professional tools helps you stand out.

The downside is cost. Burn rates in SF run 2-3x higher than other cities. A Series A that would last 24 months in Austin lasts 14 months here. Most investors expect you to be local or willing to relocate. Remote pitches work for later stages, but seed and Series A almost always require SF presence.

Picking the right San Francisco investor

Local presence: Nearly every major VC has SF or Menlo Park offices. Physical proximity still matters for board meetings and weekly check-ins. Funds on Sand Hill Road expect in-person pitches for seed and Series A. SoMa-based funds are slightly more flexible with remote meetings.

Portfolio companies: Check if they've backed companies in your specific vertical. SF investors are extremely specialized. Don't pitch an AI infrastructure fund if you're building consumer social. Look at their last 10 investments, not their website's broad claims about sector focus. If in doubt, validate their interests while refining how you send decks to investors.

Check sizes: Seed rounds from SF funds range $1M-$5M. Series A typically $10M-$25M. Series B starts at $30M and goes up from there. Smaller funds write $500K-$2M checks but usually can't lead. Know which funds lead rounds versus follow. Understanding each fund’s role helps you prioritize outreach and stay compliant with key GDPR principles when sharing sensitive data.

Local network: SF investors can intro you to every major tech company, top engineering talent, and future acquirers. A partner at Sequoia or Benchmark opens doors that took other founders years to open. That network access is often more valuable than the capital itself.

Communication: Share your deck through Ellty with trackable links. SF investors review hundreds of decks monthly. You'll know within 48 hours if they actually opened your financials or just skimmed the intro. Track which slides they spend time on and adjust your pitch accordingly.

Follow-on capacity: Most SF funds have $500M+ under management and can fund you through Series C or later. Some seed funds have explicitly separate opportunity funds for follow-on investments. Ask about their portfolio construction and reserve ratios before taking their money.

How to find and approach San Francisco investors

Research local deals: Check Crunchbase's SF filter and sort by announcement date. The Information and StrictlyVC cover SF deals faster than TechCrunch. Follow SF partners on Twitter - they often announce deals before press releases. Pitchbook's SF data is 2-3 weeks behind but more comprehensive.

Leverage local ecosystem: Y Combinator demo days are the highest concentration of SF investors anywhere. Apply to YC if you're pre-seed. If not, attend the South Park Commons events or join On Deck. The SF Founders Club and Village Global have strong networks. Most real deal flow happens through warm intros, not cold emails.

Build relationships first: SF investors want to see momentum before they meet. Get 2-3 angel investors or micro VCs first. Then use those relationships to intro you to larger funds. Partners at Sequoia, Benchmark, and Founders Fund almost never take cold meetings for seed rounds. You need someone they trust to vouch for you.

Share your pitch deck: Upload to Ellty and create unique tracking links for each SF investor. You'll see exactly who views your deck and which sections they focus on. SF investors typically review decks within 24-48 hours. If they don't open it within a week, they're not interested.

Attend local events: SaaStr Annual brings every B2B SaaS investor to SF. TechCrunch Disrupt is hit or miss. The real action happens at smaller events - Founders Field Day, SF New Tech, and 500 Startups demo days. Skip the huge conferences unless you're exhibiting. Focus on 30-person dinners and small group meetings.

Connect with portfolio founders: Find founders in your space who raised from your target investors. Most will take a 20-minute call if you're thoughtful. Ask them about partner responsiveness, board meeting style, and how helpful the fund actually is post-investment. SF founders are surprisingly willing to share honest feedback.

Organize due diligence: Set up an Ellty data room before first partner meetings. Include your financial model, cap table, customer pipeline, and key metrics dashboard. SF investors move fast once they decide. Having everything organized in advance saves 1-2 weeks in the process. Share view-only access and track which documents they actually review. Tracking which documents they open gives you an edge, similar to real-time deck engagement tracking.

Understand local pace: SF deals close faster than anywhere else. Seed rounds often go from first meeting to term sheet in 2-3 weeks. Series A typically takes 4-6 weeks. If an SF investor is "thinking about it" for more than two weeks after a partner meeting, they're passing. Move on.

San Francisco-specific considerations

SF investors expect Silicon Valley-style growth rates. 10% month-over-month minimum for early stage. If you're growing 3-5% monthly, you'll get passed over. They've seen hypergrowth enough times that moderate success doesn't interest them. Consumer companies need millions of users. B2B needs $1M+ ARR for Series A conversations.

The talent density makes or breaks you. If you can't recruit SF-quality engineers and designers, investors notice. They'll ask why top talent isn't joining. Your ability to attract A-players signals product-market fit as much as your metrics do. Plan to spend 30-40% of your time recruiting if you're SF-based.

18 top investors in San Francisco

1. Sequoia Capital

The most prestigious name in venture capital, period.

• Recent Deals: Anthropic ($450M Series C, 2025), Stripe ($6.5B Series I, 2025), Nubank (growth rounds 2024-2025)
• LinkedIn: Alfred Lin
• Sector Focus: AI/ML, fintech, enterprise software, consumer, crypto
• Stage Focus: Seed, Series A, Series B, Series C, Growth
• Office Location: 2800 Sand Hill Road, Menlo Park
• Website: sequoiacap.com

2. Andreessen Horowitz (a16z)

Massive fund with the loudest brand in venture capital.

• Recent Deals: OpenAI ($10B round with Microsoft, 2025), Databricks ($500M Series I, 2024), Figma (growth rounds 2024)
• LinkedIn: Marc Andreessen
• Sector Focus: AI, crypto, bio, enterprise, consumer, fintech, games
• Stage Focus: Seed, Series A, Series B, Series C, Growth
• Office Location: 2865 Sand Hill Road, Menlo Park
• Website: a16z.com

3. Lightspeed Venture Partners

Fast decision-makers who've backed multiple unicorns from seed.

• Recent Deals: Rippling ($200M Series D, 2025), Affirm (growth rounds 2024), Nutanix (pre-IPO rounds)
• LinkedIn: Jeremy Liew
• Sector Focus: Enterprise, consumer, fintech, health tech
• Stage Focus: Seed, Series A, Series B, Series C
• Office Location: 2200 Sand Hill Road, Menlo Park
• Website: lsvp.com

4. Founders Fund

Peter Thiel's fund that takes contrarian bets on hard tech.

• Recent Deals: Anduril ($1.5B Series F, 2025), SpaceX (multiple rounds 2024-2025), Palantir (early backer, multiple follow-ons)
• LinkedIn: Brian Singerman
• Sector Focus: Aerospace, defense tech, AI, biotech, crypto
• Stage Focus: Series A, Series B, Series C, Growth
• Office Location: One Letterman Drive, San Francisco
• Website: foundersfund.com

5. Benchmark

Small partnership model with outsized returns and no junior partners.

• Recent Deals: Databricks (Series F at $43B valuation, 2024), Confluent (early rounds), Discord ($500M Series H, 2024)
• LinkedIn: Sarah Tavel
• Sector Focus: Enterprise infrastructure, consumer, marketplace, fintech
• Stage Focus: Series A, Series B
• Office Location: 2965 Woodside Road, Woodside
• Website: benchmark.com

6. Accel

European roots with strong SF presence and fast follow-on deployment.

• Recent Deals: Whatnot ($260M Series D, 2025), UiPath (multiple growth rounds), Atlassian (early investor)
• LinkedIn: Rich Wong
• Sector Focus: Enterprise SaaS, developer tools, marketplace, fintech
• Stage Focus: Series A, Series B, Series C, Growth
• Office Location: 500 University Avenue, Palo Alto
• Website: accel.com

7. Greylock Partners

Experienced operators who stay involved with portfolio companies long-term.

• Recent Deals: Coda ($80M Series D at $1.4B valuation, 2024), Workday (early investor), Coinbase (Series B, 2015)
• LinkedIn: Reid Hoffman
• Sector Focus: Enterprise, consumer, security, infrastructure
• Stage Focus: Series A, Series B, Series C
• Office Location: 2550 Sand Hill Road, Menlo Park
• Website: greylock.com

8. Index Ventures

European fund with strong SF office and AI focus in 2025-2026.

• Recent Deals: Scale AI ($1B Series E at $13.8B valuation, 2025), Roblox (early investor), Figma (Series A-C)
• LinkedIn: Mike Volpi
• Sector Focus: AI/ML, enterprise software, gaming, fintech, security
• Stage Focus: Seed, Series A, Series B, Series C
• Office Location: 140 New Montgomery Street, San Francisco
• Website: indexventures.com

9. General Catalyst

Large multi-stage fund with strong follow-on capital reserves.

• Recent Deals: Samsara (post-IPO growth investments, 2024-2025), Snap (growth rounds), Stripe (Series C-F)
• LinkedIn: Hemant Taneja
• Sector Focus: Enterprise, health tech, fintech, consumer, climate
• Stage Focus: Seed, Series A, Series B, Series C, Growth
• Office Location: 20 University Road, Cambridge (SF office in SoMa)
• Website: generalcatalyst.com

10. Kleiner Perkins

Legendary Sand Hill Road firm rebuilding after leadership changes.

• Recent Deals: Glean ($200M Series D at $2.2B valuation, 2025), DoorDash (Series B-E), Spotify (early US investor)
• LinkedIn: Mamoon Hamid
• Sector Focus: Enterprise AI, health tech, fintech, consumer
• Stage Focus: Series A, Series B, Series C
• Office Location: 2750 Sand Hill Road, Menlo Park
• Website: kleinerperkins.com

11. NEA (New Enterprise Associates)

One of the largest and oldest VC firms with $25B+ under management.

• Recent Deals: UiPath (Series D-E before IPO, 2024), Salesforce (early investor), Databricks (multiple rounds)
• LinkedIn: Scott Sandell
• Sector Focus: Enterprise software, health tech, fintech, consumer
• Stage Focus: Series A, Series B, Series C, Growth
• Office Location: 2855 Sand Hill Road, Menlo Park
• Website: nea.com

12. Khosla Ventures

Vinod Khosla's fund that backs ambitious technical founders early.

• Recent Deals: OpenAI (Series A, 2016), Affirm (Series B-D), Impossible Foods (multiple rounds 2024-2025)
• LinkedIn: Vinod Khosla
• Sector Focus: AI, climate tech, biotech, health tech, enterprise
• Stage Focus: Seed, Series A, Series B
• Office Location: 2128 Sand Hill Road, Menlo Park
• Website: khoslaventures.com

13. Battery Ventures

Growth-stage focus with technical due diligence process.

• Recent Deals: Navan ($154M at $9.2B valuation, 2024), Amplitude (Series D-E), Glassdoor (growth rounds)
• LinkedIn: Neeraj Agrawal
• Sector Focus: Enterprise software, fintech, infrastructure, marketplace
• Stage Focus: Series B, Series C, Series D, Growth
• Office Location: 930 Winter Street, Waltham (SF office in Financial District)
• Website: battery.com

14. GGV Capital

US-China cross-border fund with strong enterprise portfolio.

• Recent Deals: StockX ($255M Series E, 2024), Affirm (Series F-G), Peloton (Series D-E)
• LinkedIn: Jeff Richards
• Sector Focus: Enterprise, consumer, fintech, e-commerce
• Stage Focus: Series A, Series B, Series C, Growth
• Office Location: 2479 Sand Hill Road, Menlo Park
• Website: ggvc.com

15. Mayfield Fund

50+ year track record with recent focus on AI infrastructure.

• Recent Deals: Marketo (early investor, acquired $4.75B), HashiCorp (Series A-C), Palo Alto Networks (Series A)
• LinkedIn: Navin Chaddha
• Sector Focus: AI/ML, enterprise infrastructure, security, dev tools
• Stage Focus: Seed, Series A, Series B
• Office Location: 2484 Sand Hill Road, Menlo Park
• Website: mayfield.com

16. Initialized Capital

Garry Tan's seed fund with exceptional early-stage track record.

• Recent Deals: Instacart (seed, 2012), Coinbase (seed, 2012), Flexport (seed, 2014) - all SF companies
• LinkedIn: Garry Tan
• Sector Focus: Enterprise, fintech, marketplace, developer tools
• Stage Focus: Pre-seed, Seed
• Office Location: 201 Mission Street, San Francisco
• Website: initialized.com

17. 8VC

Joe Lonsdale's fund that focuses on transforming large industries.

• Recent Deals: Anduril ($200M Series C, 2024), Palantir (early investor), Oscar Health (Series A-D)
• LinkedIn: Joe Lonsdale
• Sector Focus: Enterprise, health tech, fintech, defense tech, logistics
• Stage Focus: Series A, Series B, Series C
• Office Location: 201 California Street, San Francisco
• Website: 8vc.com

18. Lux Capital

Deep tech and frontier tech investors who back scientists and engineers.

• Recent Deals: Anduril (multiple rounds 2024-2025), Shyft Therapeutics ($109M Series B, 2024), Variant Bio ($50M Series A, 2025)
• LinkedIn: Josh Wolfe
• Sector Focus: Deep tech, biotech, space, defense, AI infrastructure
• Stage Focus: Seed, Series A, Series B
• Office Location: 920 Broadway, New York (active in SF Bay Area)
• Website: luxcapital.com

Start tracking your San Francisco investor outreach

These 18 investors closed hundreds of SF deals in 2025-2026. Before you start reaching out to Sand Hill Road or SoMa funds, set up proper tracking.

Upload your deck to Ellty and create a unique link for each SF investor. You'll see exactly which slides they view and how long they spend on your financials. SF-based founders often find local investors skip straight to traction slides and spend 80% of their time on growth metrics and unit economics.

When SF investors ask for more materials, share an Ellty data room instead of messy email threads. Your cap table, financial model, customer pipeline, and contracts in one secure place with view analytics.

Common questions

Do I need to be based in San Francisco to raise from SF investors?

For seed and Series A, yes. Most SF funds expect you to relocate or already be local. Series B and later can work remotely if you have strong traction, but board meetings will require SF travel monthly.

How does San Francisco compare to NYC or LA for fundraising?

SF has 3-4x more venture capital than NYC and 10x more than LA. You'll find deeper expertise in specific verticals and more investors who understand technical products. But competition is brutal and burn rates are higher.

What's the average seed round size in SF?

$4.2M in 2025, up from $3.8M in 2024. That's nearly double most other US cities. Series A averaged $18M.

Should I raise locally or go straight to SF?

If you're technical, B2B, or building AI/ML infrastructure, come to SF. If you're consumer, marketplace, or local-first business, start in your home market and come to SF for Series A or B.

Do SF investors expect in-person meetings?

For seed and Series A, absolutely. Zoom pitches rarely convert. Plan to spend 2-4 weeks in SF doing back-to-back meetings. Later stages can start over Zoom but still require in-person for partner meetings.

What industries get funded most in San Francisco?

AI/ML dominated 2025 with 35% of all deal volume. Enterprise SaaS at 28%, fintech at 15%, health tech at 12%. Consumer and marketplace are harder to fund now than 2019-2021.

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

Seed rounds average 3-4 weeks from first meeting to term sheet. Series A takes 6-8 weeks. Series B and later can take 10-12 weeks due to more diligence. If it's taking longer, you're probably getting passed.