Investors Behind VC Funds Weigh OpenAI and Anthropic Bets and Faster Fundraising Pace
Two limited partners who back venture capital firms told TechCrunch that funds are piling into the same AI companies, OpenAI and Anthropic. They see this as largely positive but warn about how quickly managers are returning to raise new funds.
The limited partners (LPs) who supply capital to venture capital firms are upbeat at the moment, but they also see risks. Beezer Clarkson of LGT Capital Partners, a Zurich-based diversified asset manager, and Amit Bhatti of TrueBridge, a Chapel Hill firm focused solely on venture, discussed the topic in an interview with TechCrunch published on October 30, 2026. The conversation was edited for length.
Concentration in the same companies
OpenAI and Anthropic have risen in value so quickly that many funds, often within the same firm, have invested in both, despite a long-standing venture convention of avoiding conflicting investments. Bhatti regards the concentration as normal, since venture has always depended on a few outsized winners. What differs, he says, is the speed. Clarkson notes that early-stage funds still show more variety in their holdings.
A shortening investment cycle
The pace at which funds invest, which used to be two to two and a half years (Bhatti cites 24 to 36 months), has shrunk to 12 to 18 months for some. Many funds are also increasing their size mid-cycle because funding rounds have become very large, and seed rounds have grown nearly twofold. Both call it a “yellow light” situation. Bhatti adds that this time companies are sometimes going from zero to $100 million in revenue, unlike the zero-revenue crypto ventures of an earlier fast-paced period.
Liquidity and emerging managers
According to them, secondary sales of stakes have become a third source of liquidity alongside IPOs and acquisitions. Bhatti mentions one acquisition worth $60 billion involving Cursor. He supports employee share tenders at mature companies, but notes that lead investors sometimes discourage them. Clarkson believes emerging managers still have openings, even though large funds capture around half of the capital.
