Observed Signal · Jul 22, 2026 · Interview / Podcast Episode · Source: techcrunch · Impact: 4/5 · Sentiment: Positive
Menlo's Matt Murphy: Why Anthropic Is Winning
Menlo Ventures partner Matt Murphy discusses Anthropic’s rapid commercial growth on TechCrunch’s Equity podcast. Murphy, who led Menlo’s participation in Anthropic’s $500 million Series D, says Anthropic grew from a pre-revenue startup to a company with an estimated $47 billion revenue run rate by May (compared with $9 billion in 2025). In the interview with Julie Bort, Murphy explains that the company’s success was not solely about model architecture but about other business and go-to-market factors, and that the pace of growth is unprecedented in his 25 years of investing.
Reports unusually large revenue growth and a major VC-led $500M Series D in a leading LLM company, signaling significant market and investment implications for AI and adjacent industries.
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Key Takeaways & Evidence Grounding
- Anthropic reached an estimated $47 billion revenue run rate by May (2026).
- Anthropic had an estimated $9 billion revenue run rate in 2025.
- Menlo Ventures led Anthropic’s $500 million Series D.
- TechCrunch published the interview on July 22, 2026.
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Related Market Signals & Shifts
Recent verified developments and strategic activity across this market segment.
Menlo Ventures Raises $3B Fund Backed by Anthropic Stake
Menlo Ventures announced a $3 billion fundraise, the largest in its 50-year history, driven largely by gains in its AI portfolio—most notably its stake in Anthropic, which sources say is now worth about $14 billion. Menlo made a headline-grabbing $750 million bet on Anthropic in 2024, structured with roughly $500 million as an SPV and about $250 million from Menlo’s fund and insiders. The firm later participated in Anthropic’s Series E and F and launched a $100 million ‘Anthology’ startup fund with Anthropic that has since deployed closer to $250 million and backed 60+ startups, producing exits such as Graphite (acquired by Cursor) and Astrix Security (acquired by Cisco). The raise underscores Menlo’s transition into a prominent AI-focused investor and the proliferation of AI SPVs in the market.
Anthropic Raises $65B, Nears $1T Valuation
Anthropic closed a $65 billion Series H at a $965 billion post-money valuation, a financing the company says may be its last private raise before an IPO. The round was co-led by Altimeter Capital, Dragoneer, Greenoaks, Sequoia Capital, Capital Group, Coatue, D1 Capital Partners and included institutional investors such as Baillie Gifford, Blackstone, Brookfield, D.E. Shaw Ventures, DST Global and Fidelity. Strategic infrastructure partners Samsung, SK Hynix and Micron also participated. The company said $15 billion of the round comprised previously committed hyperscaler investments — including $5 billion from Amazon. Anthropic released Claude Opus 4.8 on the same day and said it will use funds to expand safety research, compute for Claude, and scale products and partnerships. The startup reported a run-rate revenue above $47 billion and expects profitability following a projected revenue surge.
Anthropic CEO: 80x Q1 Growth Strained Compute
At Anthropic’s developer conference in San Francisco, CEO Dario Amodei said the company experienced 80-fold growth in the first quarter on an annualized basis, far exceeding the 10-fold increase it planned for and causing shortages in compute capacity. Amodei said Anthropic is working to provide more capacity. The comments followed Anthropic’s deal with Elon Musk’s SpaceX to access the Colossus 1 data center (more than 300 megawatts of capacity) and come amid other recent compute agreements with Amazon and Google. CNBC also reported Anthropic is in talks to raise capital at a reported $900 billion valuation. The growth has been driven by strong demand for Anthropic’s Claude models, including the developer-focused Claude Code.
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