The key facts

  • Disruptive announced a $10 billion fund with checks of up to $1 billion in at least 10 late-stage companies
  • This is the firm's first blind-pool fund: previously it raised money for specific deals through SPVs
  • According to Bloomberg, the firm told LPs it returned more than $6 billion on roughly $1.9 billion invested

A $10 billion fund

Disruptive, a Dallas-based investment firm, whose portfolio has included Palantir, Airbnb and Spotify, announced on Tuesday the creation of a $10 billion fund. The money will go to at least 10 late-stage companies, with a single check reaching up to $1 billion. Capital-intensive areas of artificial intelligence and defense were named as priority sectors. The Wall Street Journal was the first to report the plans to raise such a fund earlier this month: by that point, the firm had already secured commitments of at least $7.5 billion.

First blind-pool fund and a Texas record

The fund is the firm's first blind-pool fund: investors commit money without knowing in advance which companies it will be invested in. Until now, Disruptive raised capital for specific deals through special purpose vehicles (SPVs). At the same time, the firm is already known for its large investments in the chip startup Groq and ElevenLabs, a developer of AI voice generation. According to Bloomberg, the firm told its limited partners that it returned more than $6 billion on roughly $1.9 billion invested in startups. According to the Dallas Business Journal, the new fund is the largest venture fund in Texas history.

Context

The firm was founded in 2012 by Alex Davis, grandson of the billionaire oil magnate Marvin Davis. The deal is notable for its scale: $10 billion is one of the largest raises of the year, and it comes in a sector where late-stage AI and defense companies require ever larger funding rounds. The final list of companies that will receive investments from the fund has not yet been disclosed — a consequence of the blind-pool fund structure itself.