Bain Capital Ventures
About Bain Capital Ventures
The firm's own site says it was formed around 2001, when it launched a $250M fund as the venture division of Bain Capital, which dates to 1984. Fund XI closed at $1.6B above target, with Bain Capital partners and employees among the largest investors alongside pensions, endowments and foundations. Enrique Salem is co-managing partner. Partners listed on the firm's portfolio page include Merritt Hummer, Abby Meyers, Ryan Kim, Ajay Agarwal, C. Melas-Kyriazi and Aaref Hilaly.
Fund XI targets AI infrastructure, applied AI, physical AI, science, security and technology-enabled services. Salem has said the firm has built its AI thesis over about a decade, starting with early commitments to Crusoe and Moveworks. In August 2026 the firm took part in a $700M financing for chip designer Etched at a $21B valuation. Other AI companies it names include Cognition, Decagon, Poolside, Legora, Atoms, Sunday Robotics, Adaptive Security and Norm. Lounge's deals desk also lists recent AI rounds for Lumilens, Corridor, Osmo Studio, Tomo, The Sentience Company and Nyne.ai.
The firm says Fund XI will invest in roughly 30 to 40 companies, mainly from seed through Series B. In Fund X, raised in 2023, more than 82% of invested dollars went into pre-seed, seed, Series A or Series B rounds. The firm does not publish check sizes. Third-party directories disagree: one lists seed checks of $500k to $3M, another lists $1M to $20M, so founders should confirm terms directly.
- Etched: builds frontier inference clusters; BCV took part in its $700M financing in August 2026
- Atoms: physical automation to transform industry; Growth round of $1.7B (2026-07)
- Flapping Airplanes: improves AI efficiency with new techniques; infrastructure investment dated 2026
- Tomo: builds personal AI to help users reach life goals; Seed $5M (2026-06), led
- Sunday Robotics: helpful robotics; listed in the portfolio
- TerraFirma: physical AI; Seed round in 2024
- Norm AI: Series C $120M (2026-07)
- Corridor: Seed $25M (2026-09), led
- Crusoe, Moveworks, Cognition, Decagon, Poolside, Legora: named as AI portfolio companies, round details not published
- baincapitalventures.com/insight/bain-capital-ventures-reimagined
- baincapitalventures.com/portfolio
- finance.yahoo.com/technology/ai/articles/bain-capital-ventures-announc
- citybiz.co/article/904532/bain-capital-ventures-raises-1-6-billion-fun
- alternativeswatch.com/2026/09/16/bain-capital-ventures-bcv-1-6-billion
- connectmoney.com/stories/bain-capital-ventures-raises-1-6b-for-ai-focu
- peinsights.substack.com/p/bain-capital-ventures-closes-16bn
- newscord.org/article/bain-capital-ventures-closes-16-billion-fund-xi-t
Investing activity
Bain Capital Ventures has made 802 investments according to Crunchbase across 446 portfolio companies, and has led 341 rounds and seen 170 exits, 18 of them by IPO.
Bain Capital Ventures appears in 10 AI deals tracked by the AI Lounge deals desk, rounds totalling $3.4B, and led 5 of them. The rounds are mostly Seed, Series A and Series D, with a median round size of $100M and the largest at $1.7B. The most recent are Modal (Series D, $750M, Oct 2026), Corridor (Seed, $25M, Sep 2026) and Osmo Studio (Seed, $5M, Aug 2026).
Bain Capital Ventures most often invests alongside Accel, Basis Set Ventures, South Park Commons and Soleio Cuervo, and the companies it backs on AI Lounge are mostly in AI, AI infrastructure / inference and AI connectivity / photonics.
Deals
Frequently asked questions about Bain Capital Ventures
What is Bain Capital Ventures' latest fund size?
Bain Capital Ventures closed Fund XI at $1.6B in September 2026, above its fundraising target. Fund X, raised in 2023, was reported at $1.4B.
What stages does Bain Capital Ventures invest in?
The firm says Fund XI will focus mainly on seed through Series B, with roughly 30 to 40 companies planned. More than 82% of Fund X's invested dollars went into pre-seed through Series B rounds.
Does Bain Capital Ventures invest in AI infrastructure and physical AI?
Yes. Fund XI targets AI infrastructure, applied AI and physical AI, and the firm's portfolio includes companies such as Etched, Atoms and Sunday Robotics.
Who are the partners at Bain Capital Ventures?
Enrique Salem is co-managing partner. The firm's portfolio page also lists partners Merritt Hummer, Abby Meyers, Ryan Kim, Ajay Agarwal, C. Melas-Kyriazi and Aaref Hilaly.
Where can I see Bain Capital Ventures' portfolio?
The firm's portfolio page at baincapitalventures.com/portfolio lists its companies, filterable by sector such as Applied AI, Infrastructure and Physical AI.
What AI companies has Bain Capital Ventures invested in?
Bain Capital Ventures's AI investments include Modal, Corridor, Osmo Studio, Lumilens, Atoms, Norm AI, Tomo and The Sentience Company. The 10 rounds on AI Lounge are listed on this page with amounts, dates and co-investors.
Where is Bain Capital Ventures based?
Bain Capital Ventures is based in San Francisco, California, United States.
What stage does Bain Capital Ventures invest at?
In the rounds tracked on AI Lounge, Bain Capital Ventures has invested at Seed, Series A, Series D and Growth, with a median round of $100M. Bain Capital Ventures led 5 of those rounds.
Who does Bain Capital Ventures co-invest with?
Bain Capital Ventures's most frequent co-investors on AI Lounge are Accel (2 deals), Basis Set Ventures (2 deals), South Park Commons (2 deals), Soleio Cuervo (2 deals) and Menlo Ventures (1 deal).
How can founders reach Bain Capital Ventures?
Founders on AI Lounge can see Bain Capital Ventures's contact details in AI Investor Contacts (paid plans), check for a warm introduction through members who worked with the firm under Warm Paths, and add Bain Capital Ventures to their Investor Pipeline to track the conversation.