20 active Series B investors in San Francisco funding growth companies in 2026

San Francisco deployed $12.8B across 420+ Series B rounds in 2025. Average round size hit $42M. Most capital went to AI infrastructure, enterprise SaaS, and developer tools. You need $5M+ ARR and 120%+ growth rate to get Series B meetings here.

Series B investors want to see repeatable sales motion and expanding TAM. They're not buying vision anymore. They want to see $500K+ monthly revenue, multiple customer segments, and gross margins above 70% for SaaS. If your burn multiple is above 2x, expect tough questions about capital efficiency.

The difference between Series A and Series B fundraising is diligence depth. Series B investors will call 15+ customers, audit your financial model line by line, and stress test your growth assumptions. Plan for 10-14 weeks from first meeting to term sheet. Faster rounds happen but they're rare.

Quick list

Why San Francisco for Series B funding

San Francisco has 60+ active Series B funds within city limits. Another 40+ funds in Palo Alto and Menlo Park are 30 minutes away. You can run a full Series B process without leaving the Bay Area. That concentration creates competitive dynamics that work in your favor if your metrics are strong.

The challenge is everyone knows your numbers before you pitch. VCs talk to each other constantly. If Sequoia passes, Lightspeed probably knows within 48 hours. You can't tell different stories to different funds. Your narrative and metrics need to be airtight and consistent across all conversations.

Series B valuations here compressed 40% from 2021 peaks. SaaS companies now get 12-15x ARR multiples versus 20-25x two years ago. AI infrastructure still commands premium valuations but only if you're growing 200%+ with strong gross margins. Consumer companies struggle to raise Series B in San Francisco unless you have 50M+ users or clear path to profitability.

Picking the right San Francisco Series B investor

Local presence: Most Series B investors here take board seats. They want quarterly in-person meetings and regular check-ins with your executive team. Remote companies can raise from San Francisco funds, but expect more scrutiny on culture, retention, and communication. Funds prefer investing in companies where they can visit the office monthly.

Portfolio companies: Look at their last 10 Series B investments. If they backed three vertical SaaS companies in your space, they understand your metrics and customer acquisition model. If they've never invested in your category, you'll spend half your time educating them on market dynamics instead of closing the round.

Check sizes: Series B rounds in San Francisco average $30-50M. Some funds lead with $25-35M checks. Others participate with $10-15M. Know who can anchor your entire round versus who needs to syndicate. Sequoia, Andreessen Horowitz, and Lightspeed can write $50M+ checks solo. Smaller funds need co-investors.

Value beyond capital: Series B investors should help with executive recruiting, customer intros, and Series C positioning. Ask portfolio CEOs what their investor actually does. Some VCs introduce you to 5+ qualified VP candidates. Others just show up to board meetings. The best Series B investors act like co-founders for critical hires and strategic decisions.

Communication: Use Ellty to share your Series B deck with unique tracking links. You'll see which partners actually review your unit economics slides versus those who skim the deck in 2 minutes. San Francisco Series B investors see 200+ decks per month. Most spend under 5 minutes unless growth metrics immediately stand out.

Follow-on capacity: Most Series B funds reserve 2x their initial investment for Series C. Ask about their fund size and current deployment rate. If they're halfway through a $500M fund, they have capital. If they're at the end of a fund cycle, they might not have room for meaningful follow-on participation.

How to find and approach San Francisco Series B investors

Research recent deals: Filter Crunchbase for Series B rounds $20M+ in your sector over the last 18 months. Most deals list all participating investors. Check PitchBook to see who led versus participated. Focus initial outreach on funds that led rounds similar to yours in size, sector, and business model.

Leverage existing investors: Your Series A lead should intro you to 8-10 Series B funds. If they won't, your metrics probably aren't strong enough yet. Most successful Series B raises start with warm intros from investors who've worked with the target funds before. Cold outreach works but takes 3x longer.

Build relationships at Series A: Take coffee meetings with Series B partners when you're at $2M ARR. Share quarterly updates even when you're not fundraising. By the time you hit $5M ARR and start your Series B process, you'll have 6-8 funds who already know your business. Upload your quarterly updates to Ellty and send trackable links. You'll know which funds actually read your materials versus those who just say they're following along.

Attend investor conferences: SaaStr Annual brings 500+ Series B investors to San Francisco every May. Enterprise Connect, Structure, and various vertical SaaS events concentrate capital in one place. Book 10-15 meetings in advance. Conference hallway conversations rarely lead to term sheets. Scheduled 30-minute meetings do.

Connect with portfolio founders: Find 5-6 CEOs who raised Series B from your target funds in the last 2 years. Ask them about partner responsiveness, diligence depth, and post-investment value. Most founders are honest about which investors helped versus which ones just wired money. These conversations help you prioritize which funds to spend time on.

Organize due diligence early: Set up an Ellty data room before you start taking Series B meetings. Include your financial model, customer retention cohorts, CAC payback analysis, competitive positioning, and product roadmap. San Francisco Series B investors want to see detailed unit economics. Having materials ready shows you understand growth-stage expectations. GDPR emphasizes intention and accountability in how information moves.

Understand local timeline: Series B rounds in San Francisco take 10-14 weeks from kickoff to close. First meetings with partners happen in weeks 1-3. Partner presentations in weeks 4-6. Diligence and customer calls in weeks 7-10. Final partner votes and term sheet negotiation in weeks 11-12. Documentation in weeks 13-14. Faster rounds happen when multiple funds compete, but don't expect it.

Prepare for deep diligence: Venture capital firms review opportunities quickly, often under information overload. Series B investors will call 15-20 customers, review your code architecture with their technical partners, audit your financial model with their operating teams, and background check your executive team. They'll ask your Series A investors what concerns they have. Be transparent about challenges early. Surprises during diligence kill deals.

San Francisco Series B considerations

Series B investors expect 100-150% year-over-year growth. Enterprise SaaS needs $5M+ ARR with net dollar retention above 120%. Developer tools need 10K+ active developers or $3M+ ARR. AI infrastructure needs clear differentiation and $5M+ in committed contracts. Consumer products need 20M+ monthly active users or profitability.

Dilution at Series B typically runs 15-20%. If investors want 25%+, your valuation is too aggressive or your metrics aren't strong enough. Most founders add one board seat at Series B. Choose carefully - this person will be in your board meetings for 5+ years unless you exit.

San Francisco Series B investors now care about capital efficiency more than growth at all costs. Show them how you get to cash flow positive within 24 months even if you plan to keep raising. The days of "we'll figure out monetization later" are over. Have a detailed path to profitability even if you don't plan to execute it.

20 top Series B investors in San Francisco

1. Sequoia Capital

Top-tier VC leading $25M-$60M Series B rounds in category-defining companies.

• Recent Deals: Merge ($55M Series B at $450M, 2024), Ramp ($115M Series B at $1.6B, 2021), ServiceTitan ($165M Series D, 2018)
• LinkedIn: Roelof Botha
• Sector Focus: Enterprise SaaS, fintech, infrastructure, AI, vertical software
• Stage Focus: Series A, Series B, Series C
• Office Location: 2800 Sand Hill Road, Menlo Park
• Website: sequoiacap.com

2. Andreessen Horowitz

Mega-fund with $35B+ AUM leading $30M-$80M growth rounds with platform support.

• Recent Deals: Anduril ($1.5B Series E, 2024), Databricks ($1.6B Series I, 2024), dbt Labs ($222M Series D, 2022)
• LinkedIn: Marc Andreessen
• Sector Focus: AI infrastructure, defense tech, enterprise, crypto, bio
• Stage Focus: Series A, Series B, Series C
• Office Location: 2865 Sand Hill Road, Menlo Park
• Website: a16z.com

3. Lightspeed Venture Partners

Multi-stage fund writing $25M-$50M Series B checks into vertical leaders.

• Recent Deals: Mercury ($120M Series B at $1.6B, 2021), Affirm (Series B-E before IPO), Epic Games ($1.25B Series E, 2020)
• LinkedIn: Ravi Mhatre
• Sector Focus: Fintech, enterprise SaaS, gaming, consumer
• Stage Focus: Series A, Series B, Series C
• Office Location: 2200 Sand Hill Road, Menlo Park
• Website: lsvp.com

4. Accel

Traditional VC leading $20M-$50M Series B rounds with deep operator network.

• Recent Deals: Hightouch ($40M Series B at $450M, 2022), UiPath ($225M Series D, 2019), Atlassian (Series B, 2006)
• LinkedIn: Rich Wong
• Sector Focus: Developer tools, enterprise SaaS, security, infrastructure
• Stage Focus: Series A, Series B, Series C
• Office Location: 500 University Avenue, Palo Alto
• Website: accel.com

5. Index Ventures

European-US fund leading $30M-$70M rounds in infrastructure and dev tools.

• Recent Deals: Scale AI ($325M Series E, 2021), Datadog (Series C-D before IPO), Figma ($200M Series E, 2021)
• LinkedIn: Mike Volpi
• Sector Focus: AI infrastructure, dev tools, security, fintech
• Stage Focus: Series B, Series C, Series D
• Office Location: 650 Townsend Street, San Francisco
• Website: indexventures.com

6. General Catalyst

Multi-stage fund with $25B+ AUM backing transformative companies across sectors.

• Recent Deals: Samsara ($100M Series E, 2019), Carta ($500M Series F, 2021), Stripe ($600M Series H, 2021)
• LinkedIn: Hemant Taneja
• Sector Focus: Enterprise SaaS, fintech, health tech, infrastructure
• Stage Focus: Series A, Series B, Series C
• Office Location: 548 Market Street, San Francisco
• Website: generalcatalyst.com

7. Insight Partners

Growth equity fund writing $30M-$100M checks into B2B software scaling fast.

• Recent Deals: Vanta ($50M Series B at $1B, 2022), Wiz ($300M Series D, 2023), Contentful ($80M Series E, 2021)
• LinkedIn: Jeff Horing
• Sector Focus: Enterprise SaaS, security, dev tools, vertical software
• Stage Focus: Series B, Series C, growth equity
• Office Location: 456 Montgomery Street, San Francisco
• Website: insightpartners.com

8. Greylock Partners

Established VC leading $20M-$50M Series B rounds in enterprise and consumer.

• Recent Deals: Coda ($80M Series C, 2020), Palo Alto Networks (Series B, 2010), Workday (Series B, 2008)
• LinkedIn: Reid Hoffman
• Sector Focus: Enterprise SaaS, security, consumer, AI infrastructure
• Stage Focus: Series A, Series B, Series C
• Office Location: 2550 Sand Hill Road, Menlo Park
• Website: greylock.com

9. Bessemer Venture Partners

Century-old VC with cloud computing expertise leading $25M-$60M rounds.

• Recent Deals: Canva ($200M Series C, 2021), Toast ($400M Series F, 2020), Twilio (Series B-E before IPO)
• LinkedIn: Byron Deeter
• Sector Focus: Cloud infrastructure, SaaS, fintech, dev tools
• Stage Focus: Series A, Series B, Series C
• Office Location: 950 Tower Lane, Foster City
• Website: bvp.com

10. Founders Fund

Contrarian VC backing deep tech and frontier companies with $20M-$60M checks.

• Recent Deals: Anduril ($1.5B Series E, 2024), Palantir (Series A-C before IPO), SpaceX (multiple rounds)
• LinkedIn: Peter Thiel
• Sector Focus: Defense tech, space, AI infrastructure, frontier tech
• Stage Focus: Series A, Series B, Series C
• Office Location: 580 California Street, San Francisco
• Website: foundersfund.com

11. Battery Ventures

Growth equity fund writing $25M-$70M checks into B2B software and infrastructure.

• Recent Deals: Salesloft ($70M Series D, 2019), Chili Piper ($33M Series A, 2021), Dejero ($30M, 2022)
• LinkedIn: Neeraj Agrawal
• Sector Focus: B2B SaaS, dev tools, cybersecurity, infrastructure
• Stage Focus: Series B, Series C, growth equity
• Office Location: 535 Mission Street, San Francisco
• Website: battery.com

12. Kleiner Perkins

Historic Silicon Valley VC backing consumer and enterprise with $20M-$50M checks.

• Recent Deals: DoorDash (Series B-D before IPO), Stripe (Series B-C), Snap (Series A-B before IPO)
• LinkedIn: Mamoon Hamid
• Sector Focus: Consumer, enterprise SaaS, fintech, health tech
• Stage Focus: Series A, Series B, Series C
• Office Location: 2750 Sand Hill Road, Menlo Park
• Website: kleinerperkins.com

13. Redpoint Ventures

Enterprise-focused VC leading $20M-$45M Series B rounds in B2B software.

• Recent Deals: Kustomer ($60M Series D, 2020), Looker (Series B-C before Google acquisition), Twilio (Series A-B)
• LinkedIn: Tomasz Tunguz
• Sector Focus: Enterprise SaaS, data infrastructure, dev tools, security
• Stage Focus: Series A, Series B, Series C
• Office Location: 2270 Sand Hill Road, Menlo Park
• Website: redpoint.com

14. Norwest Venture Partners

Multi-stage fund with $12.5B+ AUM backing enterprise and consumer companies.

• Recent Deals: Guild Education ($150M Series C, 2019), Udemy ($50M Series D, 2016), Houzz ($400M Series E, 2017)
• LinkedIn: Jeff Crowe
• Sector Focus: Enterprise SaaS, edtech, consumer, fintech
• Stage Focus: Series A, Series B, Series C
• Office Location: 525 University Avenue, Palo Alto
• Website: nvp.com

15. CRV

Multi-stage VC leading $15M-$40M Series B rounds in enterprise and consumer.

• Recent Deals: Airtable ($185M Series D, 2018), DoorDash (Series A-B), Bird ($100M Series B, 2018)
• LinkedIn: Saar Gur
• Sector Focus: Enterprise SaaS, consumer, fintech, health tech
• Stage Focus: Series A, Series B, Series C
• Office Location: 2500 Sand Hill Road, Menlo Park
• Website: crv.com

16. GGV Capital

US-Asia crossover fund with $9.2B+ AUM backing marketplace and SaaS companies.

• Recent Deals: Wish (Series B-G before IPO), Affirm (Series B-E), HashiCorp ($100M Series D, 2018)
• LinkedIn: Hans Tung
• Sector Focus: Enterprise SaaS, consumer marketplaces, fintech, infrastructure
• Stage Focus: Series B, Series C, Series D
• Office Location: 280 Second Street, San Francisco
• Website: ggvc.com

17. NEA

Growth equity fund with $25B+ AUM leading $30M-$80M rounds in tech leaders.

• Recent Deals: Plaid ($250M Series C, 2018), DataRobot ($206M Series E, 2019), MongoDB (Series C-D before IPO)
• LinkedIn: Scott Sandell
• Sector Focus: Enterprise software, infrastructure, fintech, cybersecurity
• Stage Focus: Series B, Series C, growth equity
• Office Location: 2855 Sand Hill Road, Menlo Park
• Website: nea.com

18. Benchmark

Boutique VC with equal partnership model backing category creators.

• Recent Deals: Confluent (Series C-D before IPO), Uber (Series A-B), Snap (Series A before IPO)
• LinkedIn: Peter Fenton
• Sector Focus: Infrastructure, developer tools, consumer, marketplaces
• Stage Focus: Series A, Series B, Series C
• Office Location: 2965 Woodside Road, Woodside
• Website: benchmark.com

19. Menlo Ventures

Multi-stage fund leading $20M-$50M rounds in enterprise infrastructure and AI.

• Recent Deals: Harness ($115M Series C, 2022), Pinecone ($100M Series B, 2023), Sysdig ($188M Series F, 2022)
• LinkedIn: Venky Ganesan
• Sector Focus: Infrastructure, AI/ML, cybersecurity, dev tools
• Stage Focus: Series A, Series B, Series C
• Office Location: 2800 Sand Hill Road, Menlo Park
• Website: menlovc.com

20. Mayfield Fund

50+ year old VC backing enterprise infrastructure and AI applications.

• Recent Deals: HashiCorp (Series B-D before IPO), Palo Alto Networks (Series B-C), Marketo (Series B-C before IPO)
• LinkedIn: Navin Chaddha
• Sector Focus: Infrastructure, AI/ML, enterprise SaaS, cybersecurity
• Stage Focus: Series A, Series B, Series C
• Office Location: 2484 Sand Hill Road, Menlo Park
• Website: mayfield.com

Start tracking your San Francisco Series B outreach

These 20 investors led or participated in Series B deals across San Francisco and the Bay Area in 2023-2025. Before you start your Series B fundraising process, get your tracking infrastructure ready.

Upload your Series B deck to Ellty and create unique links for each fund. You'll see which partners actually review your customer acquisition metrics and which ones just skim your team slide. San Francisco Series B investors prioritize unit economics and repeatability over vision. Track engagement to understand who's serious versus who's just taking meetings.

When funds request detailed financials, cohort analysis, or customer references during diligence, organize everything in an Ellty data room. Your CAC payback by channel, retention curves, and competitive win/loss analysis in one secure location. You'll know exactly which partners did thorough diligence versus those who skipped critical materials.

Common questions

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

No, but it helps. About 70% of Series B deals from SF funds involve companies with Bay Area engineering or sales presence. Remote companies raise here successfully but expect deeper diligence on culture, communication, and team retention. Most Series B investors want to visit your office during the process.

How does San Francisco compare to New York for Series B funding?

San Francisco has 2x more Series B capital available. Average rounds are $42M in SF versus $35M in NYC. SF investors better understand SaaS and infrastructure metrics. NYC investors are stronger in fintech, adtech, and e-commerce. For developer tools or enterprise infrastructure, SF remains dominant.

What's the average Series B round size in San Francisco?

$42M in 2025, down from $55M in 2021. Most rounds have 2-3 investors - one lead writing $25-30M and participants writing $10-15M each. Insider participation from Series A adds another $5-10M typically. Dilution averages 15-20%.

Should I raise Series B locally or run a national process?

Run a focused process with 12-15 funds across SF, NYC, and maybe London. Don't pitch 50 funds - that signals desperation. San Francisco has the deepest Series B market, but creating competitive tension with out-of-state funds helps pricing. Most Series B processes take 10-14 weeks regardless of geography.

Do San Francisco Series B investors take board seats?

Usually, yes. Most Series B leads want a board seat. Some participate without seats if the board is already full. Expect 5-7 total board members after Series B - 2-3 investors, 2-3 founders/executives, 1-2 independents. Choose board members carefully. They'll be involved for years.

What metrics do Series B investors care about most?

Net dollar retention above 120%, magic number above 0.75, CAC payback under 18 months, gross margin above 70% for SaaS, and 100%+ YoY growth. They'll model your path to $50M ARR. If assumptions don't match benchmarks, expect tough questions. Most deals die in diligence when metrics don't hold up under scrutiny.

How long does Series B diligence take in San Francisco?

8-12 weeks after initial partner meetings. Expect customer calls with 15-20 references, financial model deep dives, product security reviews, competitive analysis, and team background checks. Some funds bring technical advisors to evaluate your architecture. Be ready for thorough diligence - shortcuts here kill deals.