Lightspeed Venture Partners
Global venture firm founded in 2000 with a major New York office, investing from seed through growth in consumer, enterprise software, media, and AI—early backer of Snap, Affirm, and Grubhub.
Typical check size
$1M-$10M (stage-based estimate)
Founded
2000
Headquarters
500 W 34th St, New York, NY 10001
AUM
N/A
Rounds they lead
Series A
Series B+
Rounds they invest
Seed
Series A
Series B+
Portfolio companies we track
Startups in our directory that list Lightspeed Venture Partners as an investor (50 total).
- Abridge AI medical scribe capturing clinician-patient conversations into structured EHR notes.
- Affirm Public buy-now-pay-later lender founded by Max Levchin (NASDAQ: AFRM).
- Alchemy Blockchain developer platform (node/API infrastructure) for web3 builders.
- Alpha-9 Oncology Clinical-stage radiopharmaceutical company developing targeted cancer therapies.
- Amca Integrated aerospace and defense manufacturing platform for critical components.
- Anthropic AI safety company building Claude frontier models, API, and enterprise agents for coding and knowledge work.
- Arena AI evaluation platform behind Chatbot Arena / LMArena leaderboards.
- Arimo Behavioral AI and predictive analytics for IoT and enterprise data (formerly Adatao).
- Backbone Systems Clinical AI layer automating healthcare payments, prior auth, and claim correctness for payers and providers.
- Barefoot Networks Programmable Ethernet switch ASICs and P4 networking software for data centers.
- Base Power U.S.-made residential batteries and energy plans that aggregate into a virtual power plant — grid flexibility at the edge of the home.
- Believer Game studio building a next-gen open-world multiplayer IP from former Riot executives.
- Blend Labs Digital lending platform for mortgages and consumer banking (NYSE: BLND).
- Bromium Micro-virtualization endpoint security isolating browser and app threats.
- Carta Equity management and cap table platform for private companies and funds.
- Castelion Hypersonic weapons and defense manufacturing startup in the American Dynamism set.
- ClickUp All-in-one work OS combining docs, tasks, goals, whiteboards, and chat in one productivity platform.
- Cyera Data-security trust layer for enterprise AI — DSPM, DLP, and agentic access control across cloud and SaaS.
- Delphix Database virtualization and test data management (acquired by Perforce, 2024).
- Eco Digital wallet and savings platform with crypto-linked rewards.
- Eve AI operating system for plaintiff law firms from intake through settlement.
- Everyrealm Metaverse real-estate investor and developer across NFT game worlds.
- Exa AI-native web search API built for developers and AI agents, not traditional search portals.
- Faraway Browser-based multiplayer games with player-owned economies on Solana.
+26 more in the directory graph (browse related articles below or the startups index).
Related investment articles
Jul 24, 2026
a16z Portfolio Companies on Fire in 2026: AI, American Dynamism & More
Jul 7, 2026
Lightspeed Venture Partners Backs Proxima Fusion Series A
Dec 15, 2025
Lightspeed Venture Partners Closes Over $9B, Doubles Down on AI
Aug 5, 2026
Multiplier's $35M Series B: Buy the Accounting Firm, Then Build AI Inside It
Aug 6, 2026
Gravity's $30.5M Series A: Ad Exchange for Chatbots — and Agents
Aug 10, 2026
Whatnot’s $545M Series G at $20B: Live Commerce Still Clears Mega-Rounds
FAQs about Lightspeed Venture Partners
Stage fit, check size, thesis, and how founders typically approach this firm — based on public sources and our directory.
Per our directory, Lightspeed leads Series A and growth rounds and participates from seed. The firm operates globally with dedicated seed, early, and growth strategies—not a single-stage microfund.
Lightspeed does not publish one check size. Our December 2025 coverage notes the firm closed $9B+ across six vehicles with AUM past $35B—checks scale from seed through large growth rounds. Directory estimate: stage-dependent, not a fixed seed amount.
Lightspeed was founded in Menlo Park and maintains a major New York office at 500 W 34th St. It invests worldwide across the U.S., Europe, India, Israel, and Southeast Asia with sector teams—not a NYC-only mandate.
Our directory tags consumer, media-entertainment, and enterprise-saas. Lightspeed publicly emphasizes AI infrastructure and applications (~55% of recent fund capital per our 2026 coverage), plus fintech, gaming, enterprise, and deep tech such as fusion energy.
Lightspeed frequently leads seed, Series A, and growth rounds. Recent examples in our coverage include leading Proxima Fusion's Series A and participating in major AI rounds such as Mistral AI and Wiz.
Notable startups in our directory with Lightspeed listed include Wiz (/startup/wiz), Affirm (/startup/affirm), Carta (/startup/carta), Mistral AI (/startup/mistral-ai), Navan (/startup/navan), and Proxima Fusion (/startup/proxima-fusion).
Founders can engage through lsvp.com and sector-specific partner pages. Warm intros from portfolio founders, operators, or co-investors are standard; Lightspeed runs a global partnership and does not publish a single NYC-only contact.
See our articles on Lightspeed closing $9B+ in new funds (2026-lightspeed-venture-partners-9b-new-funds) and backing Proxima Fusion's Series A (2026-lightspeed-venture-partners-proxima-fusion-series-a). Our NYC Series A data guide also lists Lightspeed among active NYC investors.