Altimeter Wants $3.4 Billion For Venture Funds After Backing OpenAI, Anthropic

Altimeter Capital Management, a major investor in OpenAI and Anthropic, is looking to raise more than $3 billion across two venture capital funds, as it expands its private-market investment strategy.

The firm is looking to raise $2.5 billion for a fund focused on late-stage startups approaching an IPO, Bloomberg reported.

The firm is also looking to raise $800 million to $900 million for a separate venture fund targeting a broader mix of early-stage companies.  

Altimeter’s new fundraising effort comes as several of its largest investments prepare for additional funding rounds at significantly higher valuations.

AI infrastructure startup Baseten is reportedly preparing a funding round that could value the company at $30 billion. OpenAI, meanwhile, has discussed raising capital at a $1.25 trillion pre-money valuation and has already secured $11 billion toward that amount, Bloomberg previously reported.

The firm’s exposure to some of the largest private AI companies comes as investor capital has been concentrated around a relatively small group of high-growth businesses.

In an earlier interview with Bloomberg, Altimeter partner Apoorv Agrawal described the shift in the AI market as much larger than a typical technology investment cycle.

“AI has gone from being a technology product cycle to one of the largest capital formation cycles,” Agrawal said.

Altimeter has two previous growth funds: a $1.6 billion vehicle that closed last year and a $1.5 billion expansion fund. Both funds were used to invest in late-stage private companies, including OpenAI and Anthropic.

Altimeter also co-led Anthropic’s most recent financing round, which valued the artificial intelligence company at $965 billion.

Photo: Shutterstock