Best ML-Focused VCs for Series A Preparation 2025

Top venture capital firms actively investing in machine learning and AI startups at Series A. Average check sizes, portfolio focus areas, and what they look for in ML startups.

$5-25M
Typical Check Size
$2M ARR
Minimum Revenue
3x YoY
Expected Growth
6-9 Mo
Fundraising Timeline

Series A Preparation Checklist for ML Startups

Revenue$1-3M ARR

Minimum $1M ARR with clear path to $10M+

Growth Rate2-3x YoY

Demonstrating 200-300% year-over-year growth

Team Size15-30 people

Strong ML/engineering team, 50%+ technical

Customers20-50 enterprise

Logo traction with recognizable brands

Burn Multiple<2x

Efficient growth, burning less than 2x revenue growth

Technical MoatProprietary models/data

Clear differentiation in model performance or unique data

Top ML/AI-Focused VCs for Series A (2025)

Andreessen Horowitz (a16z)

AI/ML Fund

$10-25M

Focus Areas:

Foundation models, ML infrastructure, Applied AI

Portfolio:

Anthropic, Hugging Face, Character.AI

Requirements: $2M+ ARR, 3x YoY growth

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Amplify Partners

Technical Founders Fund

$5-15M

Focus Areas:

ML infrastructure, Developer tools, Data platforms

Portfolio:

Databricks, Fastly, DataRobot

Requirements: $1M+ ARR, Strong technical moat

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NEA (New Enterprise Associates)

AI/ML Practice

$10-20M

Focus Areas:

Enterprise AI, Healthcare ML, Autonomous systems

Portfolio:

Databricks, Duolingo, Robinhood

Requirements: $1.5M+ ARR, Enterprise traction

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Lightspeed Venture Partners

Enterprise AI Fund

$10-15M

Focus Areas:

Enterprise ML, Vertical AI, Infrastructure

Portfolio:

Carta, Netskope, TripActions

Requirements: $2M+ ARR, 20+ enterprise customers

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Sequoia Capital

AI/ML Investments

$15-30M

Focus Areas:

Foundational AI, ML applications, Infrastructure

Portfolio:

OpenAI, Harvey.ai, Glean

Requirements: $3M+ ARR, Category-defining potential

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Google Ventures (GV)

AI/ML Portfolio

$5-15M

Focus Areas:

Applied ML, Healthcare AI, Climate ML

Portfolio:

Uber, Slack, Stripe (ML features)

Requirements: $1M+ ARR, Technical differentiation

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Coatue Management

Early Stage AI Fund

$10-20M

Focus Areas:

AI-first companies, ML platforms, Generative AI

Portfolio:

Runway, Perplexity, Adept

Requirements: $2M+ ARR, High growth velocity

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Radical Ventures

AI-Focused Fund III

$5-10M

Focus Areas:

Deep learning, Computer vision, NLP

Portfolio:

Cohere, You.com, Waabi

Requirements: $1M+ ARR, PhD founders preferred

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What ML-Focused VCs Look for at Series A

Technical Requirements

  • ✓Proprietary models with demonstrable performance advantages (10%+ improvement over baseline)
  • ✓Unique data moat or data generation flywheel
  • ✓Strong ML/AI team with published research or industry experience (FAANG, OpenAI, etc.)
  • ✓Clear MLOps infrastructure and model deployment capabilities

Business Metrics

  • ✓$1-3M ARR minimum, with clear path to $10M+ within 18 months
  • ✓Net Revenue Retention >120% (land and expand working)
  • ✓CAC payback <18 months for enterprise, <12 months for SMB
  • ✓At least 20 paying customers with 3+ enterprise logos

Market & Competition

  • ✓TAM >$1B with clear expansion opportunities
  • ✓Defensible position against OpenAI, Google, Microsoft, Amazon
  • ✓Clear go-to-market strategy beyond just "AI" messaging

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