137 Ventures Raises $700M on One Successful Bet

137 Ventures has successfully convinced LPs that backing SpaceX—a company that achieved success despite venture capital, not because of it—qualifies as a repeatable investment thesis. The firm has now raised $700 million across two growth-stage funds, a figure that exists in direct proportion to the gravitational pull of Elon Musk's portfolio entry.

The portfolio tells the story: SpaceX (the one that works), Anduril (defense tech in an increasingly crowded space populated by well-funded competitors and government contractors), and Hadrian (also defense-adjacent). In venture mathematics, one unicorn divided by multiple funds equals infinite conviction. Apparently, Lightning Strike Diversification is now a legitimate strategy.

The firm's press release presumably reads something like: "We identified SpaceX early." Translation: We were in the room when a generational company was being built. The two new growth-stage funds will now deploy capital into the 47 other defense-tech startups hoping their founders can also bend physics and policy to their will.

Investors should note: borrowed credibility compounds, but it doesn't replicate. See you at the Series C down-round.