Mayfield (company)

Mayfield, also known as Mayfield Fund, is an American venture capital firm based on Sand Hill Road in Menlo Park, California. Founded in 1969 by Thomas J. Davis Jr. and Wally Davis, it is among the older ACTIVE venture capital firms associated with Silicon Valley.

The firm invests in early-stage and growth-stage technology companies, including enterprise, consumer, artificial-intelligence, semiconductor, cybersecurity, biotechnology, and health-related companies. Its reported portfolio has included Atari, Genentech, Tandem Computers, Marketo, SolarCity, Lyft, HashiCorp, Poshmark, Moat, ServiceMax, and other technology companies. In 2023, Mayfield announced $955 million across two funds and launched a $250 million artificial-intelligence seed-stage initiative using existing capital.

History

Mayfield was founded in 1969 by venture capitalist Thomas J. Davis Jr. and Wally Davis, who were not related. Thomas Davis had previously co-founded the venture capital firm Davis & Rock with Arthur Rock, using capital from founders of Fairchild Semiconductor. William F. Miller, a former provost of Stanford University, was an early investor in Mayfield.

The firm was one of several venture capital partnerships founded in the late 1960s and 1970s that helped establish Sand Hill Road as a center of venture investing. A history of private equity and venture capital published by the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta listed Mayfield among venture firms from that period that remained active in later decades.

Mayfield is headquartered on Sand Hill Road in Menlo Park. In 2013, the firm moved into office space on Sand Hill Road that had previously been occupied by Benchmark. Navin Chaddha became Mayfield's managing partner in 2011.

Funds and investment approach

Mayfield invests in seed, early-stage, and later-stage venture rounds. In 2016, TechCrunch reported that Mayfield had raised $525 million across two funds: a $400 million early-stage fund, Mayfield XV, and a $125 million later-stage fund, Mayfield Select. TechCrunch described Mayfield Select as the first later-stage fund in the firm's history.

In April 2020, Mayfield raised $750 million across Mayfield XVI and Mayfield Select II. The early-stage fund was intended to continue backing early-stage companies, while Select II was created for later-stage rounds in breakout portfolio companies and some external growth-stage companies.

In May 2023, Mayfield announced $955 million across two new funds: the $580 million Mayfield XVII for seed and series A companies and the $375 million Mayfield Select III for series B companies. TechCrunch reported that Mayfield had invested in more than 550 companies, including companies that had completed 120 initial public offerings and 225 acquisitions. In July 2023, Forbes reported that Mayfield had launched Mayfield AI Start, a $250 million artificial-intelligence seed-stage fund drawn from existing capital rather than a separate fundraise.

Investments and exits

Mayfield has invested in enterprise software, consumer internet, advertising technology, clean technology, biotechnology, semiconductor, artificial-intelligence, and health-related companies. Reported portfolio companies have included Atari, Genentech, Tandem Computers, Marketo, ServiceMax, SolarCity, Lyft, HashiCorp, Poshmark, Mammoth Biosciences, Moat, Elastica, and Rubicon Project.

Selected Mayfield investments and reported outcomes include:

Philanthropy

Mayfield sponsors the Mayfield Fellows Program at Stanford University, an entrepreneurship program administered by the Stanford Technology Ventures Program. TechCrunch reported in 2023 that Mayfield allocates 1% of its fees to help sponsor students from historically overlooked backgrounds to obtain technology internships.

See also

• List of venture capital firms