CapitalG

We're excited to announce CapitalG's investment in Baseten, the foundational platform for production AI. We are honored to partner with co-founders Tuhin Srivastava, Amir Haghighat, Philip Howes, Pankaj Gupta, and the rest of the Baseten team as they build the infrastructure for our AI-native future.    Baseten is the unsung hero enabling the rapid pace of innovation we're seeing in today's leading #AI applications. Companies like Abridge, Clay, and OpenEvidence rely on Baseten to power their product experiences. Read the blog post from Jill (Greenberg) Chase and Manmeet Gujral to learn more about why we believe Baseten will be the foundational platform powering the next generation of AI innovators.    As they write, “The team's insight into what the ecosystem needs today–and their vision for what it will need tomorrow–is so compelling that we have no doubt they will power the innovators of the next decade and evolve with them to meet their needs.” Welcome to the #CapitalGfamily, Baseten ! https://lnkd.in/gWk9StJX

Congratulations to #CapitalGfamily companies Stripe, Databricks, Grafana Labs, Gusto, Rippling, AlphaSense, Dataiku, Cribl, Clio, NinjaOne, Collibra, Abridge, Webflow, Odoo, and Clay for their well-earned recognition on this year's Forbes #Cloud100, edited by Richard Nieva and Elisabeth Brier. https://lnkd.in/etRHGNfs We're proud to work alongside so many exceptional companies that are not only reshaping #cloud computing, but also driving real value for businesses of all sizes, ranging from startups to the world's largest enterprises. Laela Sturdy Derek Zanutto Mo Jomaa Jill (Greenberg) Chase James Luo Jane Alexander Alex Nichols Jesse Wedler

Retirement benefits are coming to small businesses! Congratulations, Guideline, on joining Gusto, and congratulations to the many small business owners and employees who will benefit from this union! (pending regulatory approvals) Laela Sturdy #CapitalGfamily

So well-deserved, Amar Hanspal and team Motif. We're honored to partner with you on your mission to develop the tools that architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) professionals deserve as they design and build the structures in which we live, work, and play. Jill (Greenberg) Chase Manmeet Gujral

What an amazing milestone for a truly generational company. CapitalG is thrilled to support Ali Ghodsi, Ion Stoica, Matei Zaharia, Patrick Wendell, Reynold Xin, Arsalan Tavakoli and the entire Databricks team as they accelerate innovation by unifying Data Science, Engineering and Business. Derek Zanutto Mo Jomaa #CapitalGfamily

Congratulations to Amar Hanspal and the entire Motif team for being named a Forbes Next Billion-Dollar Startup. We're thrilled to support you in your journey to help architects and construction professionals design 21st century buildings using 21st century tools. Jill (Greenberg) Chase

Huge congratulations to Farther for being named the #1 fastest-growing financial services firm in America by Inc. Magazine and #8 overall! Jesse Wedler Kelly Barton

We’re excited to announce CapitalG’s lead Series C investment in Clay, the leading AI go-to-market (#GTM) development platform. We are honored to partner with the visionary founders, Kareem Amin and Varun Anand who have built an exceptional company. Clay is not just building a great platform that helps companies like OpenAI, Anthropic, Cursor, Canva, Intercom, and Rippling personalize outreach at scale and discover new revenue opportunities; it is also actively demonstrating how AI can be a powerful job creator. The GTM Engineering role, pioneered by Clay, shows that AI can lead to new, high-value career paths. A huge shoutout to CapitalG investors Jane Alexander and Will Noddings for leading this investment. Read Jane and Will’s thoughtful blog post outlining the 18 months of deep thesis work that brought them to this point. As they write, “Clay’s founding team brings the technical depth, customer obsession, and long-term orientation we believe necessary to build a truly generational product in this category. We believe that Clay has the potential to be the de facto go-to-market platform of the AI era.” We are incredibly excited to welcome Clay to the #CapitalGfamily! https://lnkd.in/gHz3EbBU

What does it take for a startup to stand out in today's rapidly evolving #AI landscape? A culture rich not only with innovation, but also adaptability, transparency, and a unique wedge--but that's just for starters, according to CapitalG partner Jill (Greenberg) Chase, Khosla Ventures' Kanu Gulati, and Accel's Sara Ittelson in discussion with TechCrunch's Rebecca Bellan. Additional advice for founders: 🔷 Don’t wait for the perfect pitch. Jill shared that founders shouldn’t get caught up in crafting a flawless deck. What truly stands out to investors are founders who demonstrate rapid learning and adaptation as market conditions shift. The best founders are in constant feedback mode, iterating on their products, business models, and go-to-market strategies in response to customer signals. 🔷 Differentiation is critical in a crowded market. In a market flooded with nascent AI startups, Jill urged founders to identify and articulate their “wedge”—the unique insight, technology, or data advantage that sets them apart. She challenged founders to answer: “What can you deliver that incumbents can’t, and how will you widen that gap over time?” Kanu added that it’s not just about building from scratch; smart founders leverage existing infrastructure and platforms and then zero in on underserved customer pain points that others overlook. 🔷 Security, trust, and transparency are now table stakes Sara highlighted a major shift: customers and partners are demanding much greater clarity on how AI models are trained, deployed, and governed. Founders must proactively address concerns around data privacy, model bias, and explainability from day one. Building a culture of security and transparency isn’t just good ethics; it’s a competitive advantage that can accelerate sales cycles and open doors to enterprise customers. For the full discussion, watch the panel here: https://lnkd.in/g2BmgCeE Or listen to it on the #TechCrunchEquity podcast https://lnkd.in/gm-KgYPj Or read Rebecca Bellan's recap here https://lnkd.in/e974Nyyy #TechCrunchSessions TechCrunch UC Berkeley

"We're the biggest business you've never heard of," Whatnot co-founder and CEO Grant LaFontaine told Fortune's Jason Del Rey in this extensive deep-dive on the livestream shopping company, which is now #1 in the Apple App Store and is forecasting $6B in GMV (gross merchandise volume) in 2025. We're proud that CapitalG has partnered with Whatnot since 2021 and are excited to support Grant and team as they redefine what's possible in live shopping--and in commerce. Laela Sturdy Alex Nichols