Evolution Equity Partners
About Evolution Equity Partners
Cybersecurity-focused growth investor.
Evolution Equity Partners was founded in 2014 by Richard Seewald and Dennis Smith, who remain managing partners. The firm is based in New York and has offices in Palo Alto, London and Zurich. Its first fund, Evolution Technology Fund, closed at $125M. Fund II closed at $400M in October 2021. Evolution Technology Fund III closed at $1.1B in April 2024. Press in 2024 described a team of about 30 and roughly $2B in assets under management. Earlier partners named in fund announcements include Karthik Subramanian (formerly of Cisco) and Karel Obluk (formerly CTO of AVG Technologies). Lounge could not confirm which partners lead AI deals specifically. Public sources name Seewald and Smith as the leaders of the firm's investing.
Evolution does not run a separate AI strategy. Fund III is described as a cybersecurity and AI fund. It backs cybersecurity companies and startups that use machine learning and AI to build market-leading platforms. In practice, its AI exposure comes mostly through security for AI and AI-era data and identity risk. It led Cyera's $600M Series G in June 2026 at a $12B valuation. Cyera describes the round as building a trust layer for enterprise AI. In September 2026, Goldman Sachs Alternatives added a $400M extension to that Series G. Evolution has also backed Protect AI, which Crunchbase lists as an exit, and Noma Security, whose round on Jul 31, 2025 is the latest investment Crunchbase shows. The Lounge deals desk also lists two Evolution-led rounds: NewCore (Seed, $66M, June 2026) and Outerlimit (Pre-seed, $16M, September 2026). We found no public detail on what those two companies do.
Fund III is set up to invest $20M to $150M per company. Seewald told TechCrunch that around 75% of the fund is reserved for early-growth-stage companies, around 15% for later-growth-stage and around 10% for earlier-stage tranches. Investments cover North America, Europe and Israel. Fund II's range was $10M to $50M, and the first fund's was $5M to $25M. The firm expected up to 30 portfolio companies in Fund III. Founders with pre-seed or seed rounds should note that the stated fund strategy is mainly growth stage.
- Cyera: AI and data security company. Evolution led its $600M Series G in June 2026.
- Protect AI: AI and machine learning security company. Crunchbase lists it as an exit.
- Noma Security: AI security company. Crunchbase shows a round on Jul 31, 2025.
- Island: enterprise browser company. A deal tracker lists a $400M Series D+ round led by Evolution, tagged AI and cybersecurity.
- Torq: security automation company, named by Dealroom as an earlier Evolution investment.
- NewCore: Seed, $66M, June 2026, Evolution led (Lounge deals desk).
- Outerlimit: Pre-seed, $16M, September 2026, Evolution led (Lounge deals desk).
- techcrunch.com/2024/04/16/evolution-equity-partners-raises-1-1b-for-ne
- prnewswire.com/news-releases/evolution-equity-partners-closes-on-1-1-b
- prnewswire.com/news-releases/evolution-equity-partners-close-400-milli
- medium.com/evolutionequity-news/evolution-equity-partners-announces-fi
- calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/syr40b0001x
- cyera.com/blog/building-the-trust-layer-for-enterprise-ai
- am.gs.com/en-us/advisors/news/press-release/2026/cyera-goldman-sachs-4
- crunchbase.com/organization/evolution-equity-partners/recent_investmen
Investing activity
Evolution Equity Partners appears in 3 AI deals tracked by the AI Lounge deals desk, rounds totalling $482M, and led 3 of them. The rounds are mostly Pre-seed, Series G and Seed, with a median round size of $66M and the largest at $400M. The most recent are Outerlimit (Pre-seed, $16M, Sep 2026), Cyera (Series G extension, $400M, Sep 2026) and NewCore (Seed, $66M, Jun 2026).
Evolution Equity Partners most often invests alongside AlbionVC, Crane Venture Partners, David Garfield and Manish Madhvani, and the companies it backs on AI Lounge are mostly in AI and AI data security.
Deals
Frequently asked questions about Evolution Equity Partners
Does Evolution Equity Partners invest in AI startups?
Yes. Its $1.1B Fund III targets cybersecurity companies and startups that use machine learning and AI to build platforms. Examples include Cyera, Protect AI and Noma Security.
What check size does Evolution Equity Partners write?
Fund III invests $20M to $150M per company, per the 2024 fund announcement. Earlier funds wrote smaller checks, $10M to $50M in Fund II.
Who founded Evolution Equity Partners?
Richard Seewald and Dennis Smith founded it in 2014. Both are still managing partners.
How big are Evolution Equity Partners' funds?
The first fund was $125M, Fund II was $400M (2021) and Fund III was $1.1B (2024).
Does Evolution Equity Partners invest at seed stage?
Mostly not by design, since Fund III is weighted to early-growth and later-growth rounds. The Lounge deals desk does list a $66M seed round and a $16M pre-seed round that it led in 2026.
What AI companies has Evolution Equity Partners invested in?
Evolution Equity Partners's AI investments include Outerlimit, Cyera and NewCore. The 3 rounds on AI Lounge are listed on this page with amounts, dates and co-investors.
Where is Evolution Equity Partners based?
Evolution Equity Partners is based in New York, US.
What stage does Evolution Equity Partners invest at?
In the rounds tracked on AI Lounge, Evolution Equity Partners has invested at Pre-seed, Series G and Seed, with a median round of $66M. Evolution Equity Partners led 3 of those rounds.
Who does Evolution Equity Partners co-invest with?
Evolution Equity Partners's most frequent co-investors on AI Lounge are AlbionVC (1 deal), Crane Venture Partners (1 deal), David Garfield (1 deal), Manish Madhvani (1 deal) and Charles Gorintin (1 deal).
How can founders reach Evolution Equity Partners?
Founders on AI Lounge can see Evolution Equity Partners'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 Evolution Equity Partners to their Investor Pipeline to track the conversation.