Dallas-based Disruptive announced a $10 billion fund on 27 October to back late-stage technology companies with investments of up to $1 billion each, TechCrunch reported. The Disruptive Flagship Fund replaces the firm’s deal-by-deal fundraising model with its first pool of capital committed before investments are selected. For comparison, Thrive Capital raised a $10 billion fund in February that it plans to divide between early- and late-stage investments, Dallas Innovates reported.
Key points
- Disruptive plans to invest up to $1 billion per company, focusing on growth- and late-stage businesses.
- Its first blind-pool fund replaces a model in which investors backed individual deals.
- AI and computing infrastructure are among the firm’s investment targets.
- The $10 billion vehicle is the largest venture capital fund raised in Texas, according to the Dallas Business Journal.
Disruptive moves beyond individual deals
Disruptive previously assembled funding through special purpose vehicles for individual transactions, TechCrunch reported. Under a blind-pool fund, investors commit capital before knowing which companies will receive it. That changes when investors make their commitment: the firm can allocate the pooled money across its chosen companies rather than raising money separately for each deal.
Disruptive said it created the Flagship Fund partly because limited partners wanted consistent access to its investments. Those investors include sovereign wealth funds, family offices and institutions. Its investor base in North Texas was growing, Dallas Innovates reported.
The fund is the largest venture capital fund raised in Texas, the Dallas Business Journal reported. Disruptive had previously raised money one transaction at a time, making the size of the new pooled vehicle a change in how its investors fund the firm’s decisions as well as in the amount available for them.
Disruptive was founded in 2012 by Alex Davis, its founder and chief executive. The firm began in Los Angeles, moved to Austin in 2021 and relocated to Dallas in 2024. Its earlier investments include companies at different stages of growth, though its stated plan for this fund centres on growth- and late-stage businesses.
Up to $1 billion for each company
TechCrunch reported that Disruptive intends to back at least 10 late-stage companies. The firm described its plan as investments in about 10 growth- or late-stage companies, each receiving up to $1 billion. Both descriptions put the emphasis on a small portfolio with large individual commitments.
Disruptive identified AI and AI infrastructure among the areas it wants to finance. Davis said in the fund announcement that private technology companies were staying private longer and required more capital. His account of that demand is the firm’s stated reason for seeking a vehicle able to make large commitments to a limited number of businesses.
The $10 billion total matches the fund Thrive Capital raised in February, although Thrive plans to split its vehicle between early- and late-stage investments, Dallas Innovates reported. Andreessen Horowitz said in January that it had raised more than $15 billion across several funds. Disruptive’s announced allocation instead places the capital in one vehicle for roughly 10 companies.
Groq and ElevenLabs precede the fund
Disruptive’s past and current portfolio includes chip startup Groq and AI voice-generation company ElevenLabs. Airbnb, Databricks, Palantir, Stripe, Shield AI and Spotify are also among the firm’s past and current investments. Those holdings come from the firm’s earlier approach, in which investors were brought into deals separately.
ElevenLabs provides a recent example of the valuations attached to companies in that portfolio. AI Affairs previously reported that the company doubled its valuation to $22 billion in a $300 million employee tender offer. The new fund gives Disruptive a pool from which to make its planned late-stage investments, rather than requiring a separate fundraising process for each one.
Disruptive also appointed Joy Royal as chief financial officer in July. She joined from Oaktree Capital Management, where she had spent nearly two decades in senior finance roles. In May, the firm named Ash Spiegelberg, previously of Brunswick Group, as chief strategy officer.
