New Sequoia leadership greenlights first Anthropic investment amid $25 billion raise

Silicon Valley investor Sequoia Capital is making its first investment in Anthropic. The funding round would value the AI company at $350 billion.

Sequoia Capital is preparing a major investment in Anthropic, according to a Financial Times report. It would mark the first time the California-based venture capital firm has put money into the Claude maker.

The funding round is led by Singapore's sovereign wealth fund GIC and US investor Coatue, each contributing $1.5 billion. Anthropic is targeting a total raise of $25 billion. The valuation would reach $350 billion - double the $170 billion from just four months ago. Microsoft and Nvidia have committed to investing up to $15 billion combined, with additional VC firms and investors expected to contribute $10 billion or more.

New leadership breaks with old strategy

The investment follows a leadership shake-up at Sequoia. Former chief Roelof Botha had avoided Anthropic investments and warned against concentrating venture capital in a handful of highly valued startups. He was ousted in November, with Pat Grady and Alfred Lin taking over.

Sequoia has already invested in OpenAI and Elon Musk's xAI. Venture capital firms typically avoid backing competing startups, but the scale of the AI industry has changed that calculus. According to a person familiar with Sequoia, the round has grown so large that it's shifted from a traditional VC investment to something closer to an equity investment.

Anthropic recently reported revenue of around $10 billion. The company is preparing for an IPO that could happen later this year. Anthropic has hired law firm Wilson Sonsini for preparatory work and held initial talks with banks about a public listing. OpenAI and SpaceX are also laying the groundwork for IPOs that could rank among the largest ever.