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The world's top AI venture capital partners ranked by early conviction in frontier AI.

Last updated:

Joshua KushnerJoshua Kushner
1
Top Company
OpenAI
Firm
Thrive Capital
Firm AUM
$50B
Notable AI Companies
OpenAICursorPhysical IntelligenceStripe
Description
  • Founder of Thrive Capital with exceptional early conviction in transformative AI companies
  • Led multiple early rounds in OpenAI and category-defining application-layer bets
  • Consistently backs founders before AI outcomes are obvious to the broader market
Yasmin RazaviYasmin Razavi
2
Top Company
Anthropic
Firm
Spark Capital
Firm AUM
$4.5B
Notable AI Companies
AnthropicTwitterOculusCoinbase
Description
  • General partner at Spark Capital with standout early conviction in AI foundation models
  • Early lead investor in Anthropic when frontier-model risk was still widely debated
  • Strong track record backing generational companies across AI, consumer, and infrastructure
Ravi MhatreRavi Mhatre
3
Top Company
Anthropic
Firm
Lightspeed Venture Partners
Firm AUM
$44B
Notable AI Companies
AnthropicMistral AIGleanSafe Superintelligence
Description
  • Co-founder and managing partner at Lightspeed with deep AI foundation-model conviction
  • Early lead investor in Anthropic and strong international AI coverage
  • Known for backing frontier-model and enterprise AI infrastructure companies early
Matt MurphyMatt Murphy
4
Top Company
Anthropic
Firm
Menlo Ventures
Firm AUM
$6B
Notable AI Companies
AnthropicLovableMercorRoku
Description
  • Managing partner at Menlo Ventures with standout early conviction in AI foundation models
  • Key partner-level role in Menlo's early Anthropic investment when frontier-model risk was still widely debated
  • Strong enterprise AI and developer-tools track record backing category-defining companies early
Martin CasadoMartin Casado
5
Top Company
Cursor
Firm
Andreessen Horowitz
Firm AUM
$90B
Notable AI Companies
CursorDatabricksMistral AIThinking Machines Lab
Description
  • General partner at Andreessen Horowitz with deep enterprise and developer-infrastructure conviction
  • Key partner-level role in backing Cursor as a category-defining AI application company
  • Combines technical operating experience with early conviction in AI-native software workflows
Vinod KhoslaVinod Khosla
6
Top Company
OpenAI
Firm
Khosla Ventures
Firm AUM
$15B
Notable AI Companies
OpenAIDoorDashImpossible FoodsAnthropic
Description
  • Founder of Khosla Ventures with decades of conviction on technology inflection points
  • Among the earliest institutional backers of OpenAI and other category-defining platforms
  • Combines technical depth with willingness to fund contrarian, high-upside AI bets
Eric VishriaEric Vishria
7
Top Company
Cerebras
Firm
Benchmark
Firm AUM
$9B
Notable AI Companies
CerebrasConfluentAmplitudeSnap
Description
  • General partner at Benchmark with deep conviction in AI compute and infrastructure platforms
  • Key partner-level role in backing Cerebras as a category-defining AI chip company
  • Long track record identifying generational infrastructure bets before they reach mainstream scale
Gili RaananGili Raanan
8
Top Company
Wiz
Firm
Cyberstarts
Firm AUM
$1.4B
Notable AI Companies
WizCyeraFireblocksNoname Security
Description
  • Founder of Cyberstarts with standout early conviction in category-defining cybersecurity companies
  • Key partner-level role in backing Wizā€”among the highest-value cybersecurity exits in history
  • Built one of the most concentrated portfolios of generational security startups globally

The Earthian AI Alchemist 2026 List ranks individual venture capital partners on AI conviction onlyā€”covering foundation models, AI infrastructure, and AI-native applications:

  • Firm: The venture capital firm where the partner holds a leadership or general partner role
  • Firm AUM: Total assets under management at the partner's firm, as a proxy for institutional scale
  • Notable AI Companies: Frontier AI companies where the partner demonstrated early conviction or lead-investor ownership
  • Ranking Methodology: Prioritizes early conviction in AI before outcomes were obvious, ownership quality in frontier AI companies, and value created per dollarā€”applied at the individual partner level

Frequently Asked Questions

Joshua Kushner leads because of Thrive Capital's exceptional early conviction in OpenAI and other transformative AI companies including Cursor and Physical Intelligence. His repeated lead-investor roles in category-defining AI bets generated the highest partner-level AI value creation in Earthian's 2026 AI Alchemist List.
Yasmin Razavi ranks second as a general partner at Spark Capital with standout early lead conviction in Anthropic when frontier-model risk was still widely debated.
Ravi Mhatre ranks third for early lead conviction in Anthropic alongside strong international AI bets in Mistral AI, Glean, and Safe Superintelligence at Lightspeed Venture Partners.
Matt Murphy ranks fourth as managing partner at Menlo Ventures with a key partner-level role in Menlo's early Anthropic investment and strong enterprise AI bets including Lovable and Mercor.
Martin Casado ranks fifth for a key partner-level role in backing Cursor and deep conviction in AI-native enterprise and developer-infrastructure companies at Andreessen Horowitz.
Vinod Khosla ranks sixth for among the earliest institutional conviction in OpenAI and a broader track record backing frontier AI platforms through Khosla Ventures.
Eric Vishria ranks seventh for backing Cerebras as a category-defining AI compute platform and a long infrastructure track record at Benchmark.
Gili Raanan ranks eighth as founder of Cyberstarts with standout early conviction in Wiz and a concentrated portfolio of generational security startups.
The Earthian Alchemist List 2026 covers the world's best VC partners across high-impact companies broadly. The AI Alchemist List is AI-onlyā€”ranking partners by conviction and value created specifically in frontier AI companies.
The 2026 list is updated as major AI funding rounds, lead-investor positions, and valuation milestones are confirmed across Earthian's proprietary capital markets and risk inference datasets.