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.
"Growth-Stage Fund"
DumbCapital covers venture capital and M&A in North America with the skepticism these markets have long deserved and rarely received. We are not impressed by large numbers. We are not moved by press releases. All articles are satirical commentary based on real, publicly reported deals. Nothing here is financial advice.