Bain Capital Ventures Raises $1.6B for AI-Focused Early-Stage Fund

Bain Capital Ventures has closed its 11th flagship fund with $1.6 billion, giving the technology investor substantial new capital to pursue early-stage artificial intelligence opportunities. Fund XI exceeded its fundraising target.

Investors included pension funds, endowments and foundations. Bain Capital partners, employees and related entities collectively rank among the fund’s largest investors.

The close follows the $1.9 billion BCV raised across two vehicles in 2023, including a roughly $1.4 billion flagship Fund X and a $480 million opportunities fund.

BCV said more than 82% of Fund X’s invested capital went to pre-seed through Series B financings. Fund XI will continue that formation-stage strategy across AI infrastructure, applications, physical AI, science, cybersecurity and technology-enabled services.

“AI will transform our world in ways we’ve only begun to experience,” said Enrique Salem, BCV co-managing partner. He said the firm has invested around that thesis for a decade, beginning with early commitments to Crusoe and Moveworks.

BCV’s portfolio also includes Cognition, Decagon, Poolside, Legora, Atoms, Sunday Robotics, Adaptive Security and Norm.

The fund close illustrates the widening divide in venture fundraising. Five firms captured 73.1% of U.S. venture capital committed during the first quarter of 2026, while emerging managers continued to encounter difficult fundraising conditions, according to the PitchBook-NVCA Venture Monitor.

BCV said it can draw on Bain Capital’s $225 billion global platform, including its private equity, credit, real assets and growth businesses, to connect portfolio companies with debt facilities, infrastructure partners and prospective customers.

Bain Capital founded BCV in 2001.