{"id":2314,"date":"2025-12-10T11:24:23","date_gmt":"2025-12-10T11:24:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/?p=2314"},"modified":"2025-12-10T11:24:23","modified_gmt":"2025-12-10T11:24:23","slug":"5-vcs-sounds-off-on-the-ai-question-du-jour","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/?p=2314","title":{"rendered":"5 VCs sounds off on the AI question du jour"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The views seem to range from bubble-wary to bubble-dismissive. We hashed it all out over eggs and sausages at Fortune\u2019s IRL Term Sheet Breakfast at Brainstorm AI in San Francisco yesterday. This is Amanda Gerut, Fortune\u2019s West Coast news editor, pinch-hitting for my colleague Allie Garfinkle.<\/p>\n

Allie hosted five VCs with funds ranging in size from $5 million to $25 billion and views varied across the panel. This group alone is collectively going to deploy anywhere from tens to hundreds of millions over the next decade into companies with AI as a backdrop and these investments will either prove spectacularly right or wrong.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a roll call:<\/p>\n

Jenny Xiao, partner at Leonsis Capital and former researcher at OpenAI, came in with a nuanced take. There\u2019s something of a bubble, but it\u2019s \u201crelatively contained\u201d in the infrastructure layer with overinvestment primarily in data centers, GPUs and in large language model companies. But right now, there\u2019s actually underinvestment<\/em> in the application layer because there are so many ways AI can make an impact in various enterprises, Xiao said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Vanessa Larco, former partner at New Enterprise Associates (NEA) and co-founder of new venture firm Premise, has a contrarian view. \u201cEveryone thinks enterprise is safer,\u201d Larco said. \u201cBut I actually think the consumer might, this time around in the current environment, be what survives.\u201d Larco\u2019s reasoning is that if a consumer adopts your AI product, it\u2019s because you\u2019re giving them something faster, \u201cradically cheaper, or much easier to use.\u201d Once you\u2019ve done that and built a brand, it\u2019s very hard for people to quit you.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Rob Biederman, managing partner at Asymmetric Capital Partners and chairman of Catalant Technologies, had a sobering view. \u201cIn every boom, 99% or 99.9% of companies fail, and one or two of them become Amazon or Google,\u201d said Biederman, who had to dash off to catch a flight. Only companies that can systematically create value for customers, which most of them aren\u2019t doing right now, will survive.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Aaron Jacobson, partner at NEA, said the history of technological innovation \u201cis always overhyped in the near term and underhyped in the long term, and that will be true of AI.\u201d So at some point there will be a correction and there will be cycles of pain around valuation and funding, \u201cbut ultimately, in 10 years, we\u2019re going to have a lot of really big, impactful companies.\u201d<\/p>\n

Daniel Dart, founder and general partner of Rock Yard Ventures, had the boldest counter to fears about a bubble. He sees a total addressable market we can\u2019t yet imagine. People think self-driving Waymos will replace Ubers, but Dart sees elementary schools and elderly care centers with Waymos waiting out front and that proves to him we\u2019re still in the early innings.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re really going to tell me there aren\u2019t going to be any trillion-dollar companies in 2030 or 2034? No one here is going to take that bet,\u201d said Dart. \u201cThere is going to be so much value creation that it\u2019s like the birth of fire.\u201d<\/p>\n

See you tomorrow,<\/p>\n

Amanda Gerut<\/strong>
Email:<\/strong>Amanda.gerut@fortune.com
Submit a deal for the Term Sheet newsletter here.<\/p>\n

Joey Abrams curated the deals section of today\u2019s newsletter.<\/em>Subscribe here.<\/p>\n

Venture Deals<\/h3>\n

– <\/span>Saviynt<\/b>, an El Segundo, Calif.-based identity security platform, raised $700 million in series B funding. <\/span>KKR<\/b> led the round and was joined by <\/span>Sixth<\/b>Street<\/b>Growth<\/b>, <\/span>TenEleven<\/b> and existing investor <\/span>Carrick<\/b>Capital<\/b>Partners<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n

– <\/span>fal<\/b>, a San Francisco-based AI-generated media platform, raised $140 million in Series D funding. <\/span>Sequoia<\/b> led the round and was joined by <\/span>Kleiner<\/b>Perkins<\/b>, <\/span>NVentures<\/b>, and <\/span>Alkeon<\/b>Capital<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n

– <\/span>Radial<\/b>, a New York City-based network designed to help patients access advanced mental health treatments, raised $50 million in Series A funding. <\/span>General<\/b>Catalyst<\/b> led the round and was joined by <\/span>Solari<\/b>Capital<\/b>, <\/span>SL<\/b>Health<\/b>Capital<\/b>, <\/span>Founder<\/b>Collective<\/b>, <\/span>BoxGroup<\/b>, <\/span>Scrub<\/b>Capital<\/b>, and <\/span>Diede<\/b>van<\/b>Lamoen<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n

– <\/span>Relation<\/b>, a London, U.K.-based developer of medicines for immunology, metabolic, and bone diseases, raised $26 million in funding from <\/span>NVentures<\/b>, <\/span>DCVC<\/b>, and <\/span>Magnetic<\/b>Ventures<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n

– <\/span>Aradigm<\/b>, a New York City-based benefits platform for cell and gene therapies, raised $20 million in Series A funding. <\/span>Frist<\/b>Cressey<\/b>Ventures<\/b> led the round and was joined by <\/span>Andreessen<\/b>Horowitz<\/b> and <\/span>Morgan<\/b>Health<\/b>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

– <\/span>Prime<\/b>Security<\/b>, a Tel Aviv, Israel and New York City-based AI-powered platform designed to detect and mitigate risks during software design, raised $20 million in Series A funding. <\/span>Scale<\/b>Venture<\/b>Partners<\/b> led the round and was joined by <\/span>Foundation<\/b>Capital<\/b>, <\/span>Flybridge<\/b>Ventures<\/b>, and others.<\/span><\/p>\n

– <\/span>Algori<\/b>, a Madrid, Spain-based AI-powered shopper insights platform for the fast-moving consumer goods industry, raised \u20ac3.6 million ($4.2 million) in funding from <\/span>Red<\/b>Bull<\/b>Ventures<\/b>, <\/span>Co-invest Capital<\/b>, <\/span>AttaPoll<\/b>, and others.<\/span><\/p>\n

– <\/span>Empromptu<\/b>AI<\/b>, a San Francisco-based platform designed to help transition SaaS products into AI-native systems, raised $2 million in pre-seed funding. <\/span>Precursor<\/b>Ventures<\/b> led the round and was joined by <\/span>Alumni<\/b>Ventures<\/b>, <\/span>Founders<\/b>Edge<\/b>, <\/span>Rogue<\/b>Women<\/b>VC<\/b>, and others.<\/span><\/p>\n

Private Equity<\/h3>\n

– <\/span>AppDirect<\/b>, backed by <\/span>CDPQ<\/b>, acquired <\/span>vCom<\/b>Solutions<\/b>, a San Ramon, Calif.-based IT management platform, at an enterprise valuation of more than $100 million.<\/span><\/p>\n

– <\/span>Jensen<\/b>Hughes<\/b>, backed by <\/span>Gryphon<\/b>Investors<\/b>, acquired <\/span>Safety<\/b>Management<\/b>Services<\/b>, a West Jordan, Utah-based fire and life safety company. Financial terms were not disclosed.<\/span><\/p>\n

– <\/span>New<\/b>State<\/b>Capital<\/b>Partners<\/b> acquired a majority stake in <\/span>Harrell-Fish<\/b>, a Bloomington, Ind.-based mechanical installation and maintenance services provider. Financial terms were not disclosed.<\/span><\/p>\n

– <\/span>PestCo<\/b>Holdings<\/b>, a portfolio company of <\/span>Thompson<\/b>Street<\/b>Capital<\/b>, acquired <\/span>Southwest<\/b>Exterminating<\/b>, a Houston, Texas-based pest control provider. Financial terms were not disclosed.<\/span><\/p>\n

– <\/span>Prosperity<\/b>Partners<\/b>, backed by <\/span>Unity<\/b>Partners<\/b>, acquired a majority stake in <\/span>Farkouh, Furman & Faccio<\/b>, a New York City-based provider of tax, attest, accounting and business consulting services. Financial terms were not disclosed.<\/span><\/p>\n

– <\/span>SEVA<\/b> acquired a minority stake in <\/span>Pronto<\/b>, a Lehi, Utah-based team communications platform designed for front\u2013line employers and higher education institutions. Financial terms were not disclosed.<\/span><\/p>\n

Exits<\/h3>\n

– <\/span>Arcline<\/b>Investment<\/b>Management<\/b> acquired <\/span>Altronic<\/b>, a Girard, Ohio-based supplier of ignition, control, and instrumentation systems for critical infrastructure power systems, from <\/span>HOERBIGER<\/b>Group<\/b>. Financial terms were not disclosed.<\/span><\/p>\n

– <\/span>Berkshire<\/b>Partners<\/b> agreed to acquire <\/span>United<\/b>Flow<\/b>Technologies<\/b>, an Irving, Texas-based process and equipment solutions company for water and wastewater systems, from <\/span>H.I.G.<\/b>Capital<\/b>. Financial terms were not disclosed.<\/span><\/p>\n

– <\/span>Bessemer<\/b>Investors<\/b> acquired <\/span>Xanitos<\/b>, a Newtown Square, Penn.-based provider of environmental services, patient transport, patient observation, and linen services, from <\/span>Angeles<\/b>Equity<\/b>Partners<\/b>. Financial terms were not disclosed.<\/span><\/p>\n

– <\/span>Share<\/b>Rock<\/b>Partners<\/b> acquired a majority stake in <\/span>AMAG<\/b>Technology<\/b>, a Hawthorne, Calif.-based physical security solutions provider, from <\/span>Allied<\/b>Universal<\/b>. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

#VCs #sounds #question #jour<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The views seem to range from b… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2315,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[2387,1569,2386,2385,1570,2384,1571],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2314"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2314"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2314\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2314"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2314"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2314"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}