SignalFire, the venture capital firm once met with skepticism for its data-first investment model, has just closed its largest funding round to date—raising over $1 billion in new capital. This major milestone brings its total assets under management to approximately $3 billion, reinforcing investor belief in the firm’s AI-powered approach to early-stage investing.
When founder Chris Farmer launched SignalFire in 2012, the idea of using data analytics to make pre-seed and seed investments was seen as controversial. At the time, most investors believed early-stage startups lacked the kind of data needed to fuel meaningful insights. But Farmer, along with partner and CTO Ilya Kirnos, held firm in their conviction.
“Everyone thought I was crazy,” Farmer recalled of those early days.
Since raising its first $53 million fund in 2015, SignalFire has evolved into a key player in venture capital. As the broader VC industry increasingly embraces AI tools and data analytics, SignalFire continues to differentiate itself by weaving AI into every layer of its operations—from sourcing and evaluating startups to supporting founders with recruiting, marketing, and product growth.
From Bold Bet to Billion-Dollar Backing
What once looked like a long-shot strategy is now drawing major institutional backing. The firm’s latest $1B+ fund includes commitments from global pension funds, large banks, and sovereign wealth funds. Notably, CalPERS—the largest pension fund in the U.S.—has joined SignalFire’s LP base with a $100 million investment.
Farmer believes this influx of institutional capital is a signal of maturity. “We’re well out of the proof-of-concept phase and into the established manager phase,” he said.
Unlike most seed-focused funds that remain small and cyclical, SignalFire offers LPs long-term scalability and the ability to keep investing in portfolio companies as they grow. This combination of early-stage access and growth-stage capital is rare and attractive to large investors seeking both innovation and durability.
Scaling Early-Stage Investing with Firepower
SignalFire’s model starts at the pre-seed and seed levels, but its ability to write large follow-on checks is what sets it apart. In some cases, the firm has invested up to $100 million in a single startup—a move few seed-focused firms can match.
“We use our scale to outgun everyone at the seed stage,” Farmer said. That firepower helps SignalFire win deals and stay involved throughout a startup’s lifecycle.
The strategy has already yielded early wins. The firm was an early backer of Grammarly, now valued at $13 billion, as well as Grow Therapy, which recently raised an $88 million Series C. Another standout is EvenUp, an AI platform serving personal injury lawyers, now worth more than $1 billion.
Betting on AI—But Steering Clear of the Hype
Despite its strong AI focus, SignalFire is avoiding one of the trendiest sectors in venture capital: foundational AI model builders. Farmer believes this area is too crowded and too fast-moving to offer defensible positions.
“Model builders are getting leapfrogged every few weeks,” he noted. “It’s very hard to know if anything is actually defensible.”
Instead, the firm prioritizes startups with clear competitive moats and strong barriers to entry. “EvenUp doesn’t have a competitor. I like deep, deep, deep defensibility,” said Farmer.
Going forward, SignalFire plans to direct its new capital into AI-driven startups across sectors like healthcare and pharma, cybersecurity, consumer applications, infrastructure, and developer tools—industries where strong technical differentiation still matters.
A New Era for SignalFire and Data-Led VC
While many VC firms are shrinking fund sizes in response to market pressures, SignalFire is leaning into its original vision: that smart, AI-powered investing can transform how venture capital works at every stage.
With over $3 billion in assets, top-tier institutional LPs on board, and a growing list of standout startups in its portfolio, SignalFire is now not just proving a point—it’s reshaping the future of venture capital.
