CRV
About CRV
CRV was founded in 1970 as Charles River Ventures to commercialize research from MIT, and Dick Burnes, founder of Teradyne, helped start it. The firm rebranded to CRV after its 16th fund. Its 20th fund, CRV XX, closed at $750 million in August 2025 and is dedicated to seed and Series A rounds. Public profiles name Brittany Walker, Saar Gur and Reid Christian as general partners, and Walker is described as focusing on AI and enterprise technology.
CRV says it treats AI as part of nearly every sector rather than as a separate category. It joined 7AI at seed when that company launched from stealth in early 2025, and it backed Outtake in 2024, a cybersecurity company building agents for AI labs and financial institutions. CRV co-led the Series A of Browserbase in 2024. In 2026 it led seed rounds for Standard Template Labs and Maximum, the latter an AI-native banking infrastructure startup. Robotics is another focus, with CRV backing Skild AI and Dyna.
CRV's site says it invests at the seed and Series A stages. Third-party estimates differ on check sizes: Shizune lists seed checks of $1.3M to $16M and Series A checks of $5M to $35M, while SuperScout says the firm typically writes $1M to $15M. These are estimates from data aggregators, not figures published by CRV.
- 7AI: AI company CRV backed at seed after its early 2025 launch from stealth
- Skild AI: robotics AI company; CRV backed its Series A in 2024 (Lounge deals desk: $300M), and the company later raised $1.4B in January 2026
- CodeRabbit: AI code review platform, a recent CRV investment
- Outtake: AI cybersecurity company, backed in 2024
- Browserbase: CRV co-led the 2024 Series A
- Standard Template Labs: $49M seed, March 2026, led by CRV
- Maximum: $30M seed, August 2026, led by CRV; AI-native banking infrastructure
- Melius: $20M Series A, October 2026, led by CRV
- Oak: $60M seed, July 2026, led by CRV
- TasteLabs: $18.5M seed, June 2026, led by CRV
- humans&: $480M seed, January 2026, per the Lounge deals desk
- crv.com
- crv.com/content/ai-startups-to-invest-in
- crv.com/content/ai-startup-funding
- techcrunch.com/?p=3033541
- pulse2.com/crv-750-million-fund-closed-to-lead-seed-and-series-a-round
- medium.com/crv-insights/staying-disciplined-crvs-new-750-million-fund-
- news.crunchbase.com/venture/crv-closes-600m-early-stage-fund
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CRV_(venture_capital_firm))
Investing activity
CRV appears in 7 AI deals tracked by the AI Lounge deals desk, rounds totalling $958M, and led 5 of them. The rounds are mostly Seed and Series A, with a median round size of $49M and the largest at $480M. The most recent are Melius (Series A, $20M, Oct 2026), Maximum (Seed, $30M, Aug 2026) and Oak (Seed, $60M, Jul 2026).
CRV most often invests alongside SV Angel, Felicis, Jeff Bezos and Plug and Play, and the companies it backs on AI Lounge are mostly in AI, AI creative agents and AI research lab.
Deals
Frequently asked questions about CRV
Which AI startups has CRV backed?
Recent CRV AI backings include 7AI, CodeRabbit, Outtake and Skild AI. In 2026 CRV also led seed rounds for Standard Template Labs and Maximum.
How large is CRV's latest fund?
CRV XX is a $750 million fund announced in August 2025 for leading seed and Series A rounds. CRV said it raised the full amount in four weeks.
What stages does CRV invest in?
CRV says it invests at the seed and Series A stages. Check-size figures come from third-party estimates, not from CRV.
Who leads CRV's AI investing?
Brittany Walker is listed as a general partner focused on AI and enterprise technology. Saar Gur and Reid Christian are also named as general partners.
Where is CRV's portfolio concentrated?
CRV's portfolio spans enterprise software, consumer technology, developer tools and AI, with an early-stage focus. Its most cited past successes include DoorDash, Mercury and Vercel.
What AI companies has CRV invested in?
CRV's AI investments include Melius, Maximum, Oak, TasteLabs, Standard Template Labs, humans& and Skild AI. The 7 rounds on AI Lounge are listed on this page with amounts, dates and co-investors.
Where is CRV based?
CRV is based in Palo Alto, California, United States.
What stage does CRV invest at?
In the rounds tracked on AI Lounge, CRV has invested at Seed and Series A, with a median round of $49M. CRV led 5 of those rounds.
Who does CRV co-invest with?
CRV's most frequent co-investors on AI Lounge are SV Angel (2 deals), Felicis (2 deals), Jeff Bezos (2 deals), Plug and Play (1 deal) and Anthemis (1 deal).
How can founders reach CRV?
Founders on AI Lounge can see CRV'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 CRV to their Investor Pipeline to track the conversation.