Startups

Spark Capital's $75 million Anthropic bet is reportedly worth about $7 billion before the IPO

At Anthropic's $965 billion private valuation, stakes held by Spark, Menlo, Iconiq and Eric Schmidt are reportedly worth billions. These are paper values, not realized gains.

By Robert Harrison · Oct 23, 2026, 9:25 PM EDT

For information only, not investment advice.

In 2023, Spark Capital put $75 million into Anthropic's Series C, when the AI lab was valued at $5 billion. That position is now worth about $7 billion, more than ninety times the original check, TechCrunch reported, citing Bloomberg. TechCrunch describes Spark as the only VC firm known to hold an Anthropic board seat.

The math is based on Anthropic's last private price: $965 billion post-money, set by a $65 billion Series H that the company announced in May. The stake values themselves come from Bloomberg, not from Anthropic or the investors. Here is what has been reported:

• Eric Schmidt: The former Google CEO invested in the 2021 Series A, when Anthropic was valued at $461 million, according to PitchBook data cited by TechCrunch. He reportedly owns about 1%, worth nearly $10 billion. His exact investment and whether he has sold any shares haven't been disclosed, Seoul Economic Daily notes.
• Iconiq: It has put in more than $6 billion since last year, and its stake is estimated at about $17 billion, per Bloomberg's figures. Anthropic's own announcements show Iconiq led the $183 billion Series F and co-led the two rounds after it.
• Menlo Ventures: It led the Series D and has invested more than $1 billion over time, a stake now worth $14 billion, TechCrunch reported.
• Sequoia: It first backed Anthropic this year and has put in $3 billion for roughly 1%, according to the reports. Anthropic lists Sequoia in both the $380 billion Series G and the $965 billion Series H, so how much of that gain is real depends on which price it paid.
• Sound Ventures: The firm put $35 million into the 2023 Series C and an additional roughly $400 million since. TechCrunch says that stake is worth "billions" but gives no figure.

These are paper values, not gains anyone has locked in. The bigger number is the exit: TechCrunch, citing Bloomberg, says the listing is expected this year at a valuation of as much as $2 trillion. Anthropic says it has confidentially submitted a draft S-1 and that the share count and price haven't been set. Yahoo Finance reported the public filing could come as soon as Friday; when we checked SEC EDGAR around 12:45 PM CT Friday, it wasn't there yet.

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