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Sierra Ventures

North America, California, United States, San Mateo

Description

Sierra Ventures is a long-established early-stage venture capital firm headquartered in San Mateo, California. Founded in 1982, the firm boasts over four decades of experience navigating and shaping the technology investment landscape. Their core focus lies in identifying and backing next-generation enterprise and emerging technologies, with a consistent commitment to innovation within the B2B software and infrastructure sectors. Sierra Ventures actively invests across critical areas such as artificial intelligence and machine learning, cloud infrastructure, cybersecurity, developer tools, and data solutions, targeting companies from Seed to Series B stages.

The firm is recognized for its hands-on investment approach, often partnering closely with founders to provide strategic guidance and operational support beyond just capital. Sierra Ventures emphasizes building enduring relationships and leveraging its extensive network to accelerate the growth of its portfolio companies. Their investment philosophy is deeply rooted in sector-specific expertise, enabling them to identify disruptive technologies and back strong management teams poised to redefine their respective enterprise markets. This proactive engagement is a hallmark of their strategy.

Sierra Ventures has consistently demonstrated its ability to attract capital, with its most recent fund, Sierra Ventures XIII, successfully closing at $215 million in 2023. This follows previous successful raises, including Sierra Ventures XII, which also secured $215 million in 2019, underscoring sustained investor confidence in their proven strategy. Over its extensive history, the firm has made more than 300 investments, leading to numerous successful exits for its portfolio companies, including notable names like Informatica, Teradata, and Greenplum. Their enduring presence and significant number of investments highlight their substantial impact on the technology ecosystem, particularly in fostering enterprise innovation.

Investor Profile

Sierra Ventures has backed more than 424 startups, with 8 new investments in the last 12 months alone. The firm has led 142 rounds, about 33% of its total and boasts 91 exits across its portfolio.

Investment Focus Highlights

  • Concentrates on Series A, Series B, Seed rounds (top funding stages).
  • Majority of deals are located in United States, China, India.
  • Strong thematic focus on Software, Information Technology, SaaS.
  • Led 2 rounds in the past year.
  • Typical check size: $2M – $10M.

Stage Focus

  • Series A (27%)
  • Series B (21%)
  • Seed (16%)
  • Series C (13%)
  • Series D (7%)
  • Series Unknown (7%)
  • Series E (3%)
  • Convertible Note (1%)
  • Pre Seed (1%)
  • Series F (1%)

Country Focus

  • United States (86%)
  • China (3%)
  • India (2%)
  • Canada (2%)
  • Israel (2%)
  • United Kingdom (1%)
  • France (1%)
  • Armenia (1%)
  • Australia (1%)
  • Mexico (1%)

Industry Focus

  • Software
  • Information Technology
  • Saas
  • Artificial Intelligence (Ai)
  • Enterprise Software
  • Analytics
  • Machine Learning
  • Mobile
  • Internet
  • Big Data
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FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

Learn who this investor regularly partners with—both firms and angels—and explore their latest activity.

Who does Sierra Ventures frequently co-invest with?

Canaan Partners
North America, California, United States, Menlo Park
Co-Investments: 10
UMC Capital
Asia, T'ai-wan, Taiwan, Hsinchu
Co-Investments: 9
Norwest Venture Partners
North America, California, United States, Palo Alto
Co-Investments: 10
Dell Technologies Capital
North America, California, United States, Palo Alto
Co-Investments: 11
Y Combinator
North America, California, United States, Mountain View
Co-Investments: 8
Battery Ventures
North America, Massachusetts, United States, Boston
Co-Investments: 11
Translink Capital
North America, California, United States, Palo Alto
Co-Investments: 10
Storm Ventures
North America, California, United States, Menlo Park
Co-Investments: 9
Asset Management Ventures (AMV)
North America, California, United States, Palo Alto
Co-Investments: 9
Intel Capital
North America, California, United States, Santa Clara
Co-Investments: 9

Which angels does Sierra Ventures often collaborate with?

TW
North America, California, United States, San Francisco
Shared Deals: 4
JM
North America, United States
Shared Deals: 2
AS
North America, California, United States
Shared Deals: 3
GR
North America, California, United States, San Francisco
Shared Deals: 3
JM
North America, California, United States, San Francisco
Shared Deals: 2
KM
North America, California, United States, San Francisco
Shared Deals: 2
AS
North America, California, United States, Menlo Park
Shared Deals: 2
BT
North America, California, United States, Palo Alto
Shared Deals: 3
NR
North America, California, United States, San Francisco
Shared Deals: 3
SP
North America, California, United States, San Francisco
Shared Deals: 3

What are some of recent deals done by Sierra Ventures?

Augmentus

Singapore, Central Region, Singapore

Leader in Robot Vision and Motion

Artificial Intelligence (AI)Industrial AutomationMachine LearningRoboticsSoftware
Series AJul 9, 2025
Amount Raised: $11,000,000
Sedai

Pleasanton, California, United States

Sedai delivers AI-powered cloud cost optimization and performance tuning for cloud teams to maximize savings and improve customer experience

Cloud ComputingCloud ManagementDeveloper ToolsDevOpsInformation TechnologySaaSSoftware
Series BJun 16, 2025
Amount Raised: $20,000,000
Outcomes4Me

Boston, Massachusetts, United States

Outcomes4Me develops direct-to-patient AI-driven platform designed to assist cancer patients in managing their care.

Artificial Intelligence (AI)Health CareMedicalOncologyPersonal HealthSoftware
Series UnknownMay 29, 2025
Amount Raised: $21,000,000
Eudia

Palo Alto, California, United States

Eudia is an augmented intelligence platform that enhances legal team efficiency using AI.

Artificial Intelligence (AI)Information TechnologyPaaS
Series AFeb 13, 2025
Amount Raised: $105,000,000

Cimulate is a generative AI technology company revolutionizing commerce by optimizing the customer journey.

Artificial Intelligence (AI)E-CommerceE-Commerce PlatformsRetail Technology
Series ADec 18, 2024
Amount Raised: $28,000,000
VISO TRUST

San Francisco, California, United States

VISO Trust is a SaaS third-party cyber risk management for the modern enterprise.

Cyber SecurityRisk ManagementSaaSSecurity
Series UnknownNov 21, 2024
Amount Raised: $7,000,000
Spectro Cloud

San Jose, California, United States

Spectro Cloud uniquely enables organizations to manage Kubernetes in production, at scale.

Cloud ManagementInformation TechnologySaaSSoftware
Series CNov 19, 2024
Amount Raised: $75,000,000
Inventive AI

Mountain View, California, United States

AI-powered RFX & Questionnaire Response Management platform

Artificial Intelligence (AI)Information TechnologySoftware
SeedAug 28, 2024
Amount Raised: $4,000,000
Planera

Pleasanton, California, United States

Planera offers collaborative CPM scheduling software that simplifies project management.

ConstructionSchedulingSoftware
Series AAug 27, 2024
Amount Raised: $13,500,000

Developer of non-invasive health technology designed to democratize access to early cancer risk assessment.

Series AJul 11, 2024
Amount Raised: $10,000,000