Sapphire Ventures
About Sapphire Ventures
Growth-stage enterprise software investor.
Sapphire was founded in 1996 as the venture capital arm of SAP. It spun out as an independent firm in 2011 and took the Sapphire Ventures name in 2014. Its site cites more than 15 years of experience and over $10B in assets under management. Wikipedia lists offices in Menlo Park, San Francisco, Austin and London. Nino Marakovic is co-founder and CEO, and Jai Das is President. PitchBook and CB Insights list Austin as the headquarters, and the firm's Wikipedia entry lists Menlo Park. Partners named on third-party profiles include Rajeev Dham, Cathy Gao, Anders Ranum, Andreas Weiskam and Xiaoping Feng, who is Head of Data & AI.
The firm describes itself as partnering with enterprise AI founders building what it calls Companies of Consequence. In July 2023 it announced plans to invest more than $1B in enterprise AI startups. Most of that was to go to direct investments, with some going to early-stage AI funds through its fund-of-funds arm, Sapphire Partners. Marakovic said the focus would be B2B software that makes AI accessible, plus vertical uses such as manufacturing and healthcare. A third-party profile says the firm has deployed $2.4B across 60 AI companies over the past decade. Cathy Gao is a partner focused on enterprise AI and health AI. She is an investor in ElevenLabs and Harvey, sits on the boards of EliseAI and Blue J, and is a board observer at Sword Health and Medable. On the Lounge deals desk, the firm's most recent AI rounds are Harvey (Series H, $550M, September 2026), Gimlet Labs (Series B, $300M, September 2026) and Reactor (Series A extension, undisclosed, October 2026).
The firm says it invests in a select number of post-product-market-fit companies, and it describes its focus as expansion-stage enterprise software. PitchBook lists Sapphire Ventures Fund VI as a 2021 vintage, $1.75B later-stage fund that invests in the US, Europe and Israel. Sapphire does not publish a standard check size. A third-party profile says it often leads or co-leads rounds. Examples are its Series B lead in Bretton AI and its Series D co-lead in Onebrief with Battery Ventures. Founders should treat check size as something to ask the firm directly.
- Harvey: legal AI company. Series H of $550M in September 2026 per the Lounge deals desk. Cathy Gao is an investor.
- Gimlet Labs: software to deploy and monitor AI applications across fleets. Series B of $300M in September 2026.
- Reactor: Series A extension, amount undisclosed, October 2026.
- Glean, LangChain, Temporal and Clay: listed as investments by Crunchbase. Round years are not confirmed here.
- EliseAI: Cathy Gao sits on the board. Tracxn lists Sapphire in its Series F.
- ElevenLabs: Cathy Gao is an investor.
- Onebrief: Series D of $200M, co-led with Battery Ventures per a third-party profile.
- sapphireventures.com
- sapphireventures.com/team-member/cathy-gao
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sapphire_Ventures
- techcrunch.com/2023/07/11/sapphire-ventures-plans-to-invest-over-1b-in
- pitchbook.com/profiles/fund/20302-03F
- pitchbook.com/profiles/investor/11293-66
- crunchbase.com/organization/sapphire-ventures
- f4.fund/firms/sapphire-ventures
Investing activity
Sapphire Ventures appears in 4 AI deals tracked by the AI Lounge deals desk, rounds totalling $980M, and led 1 of them. The rounds are mostly Series D, Series A and Series H+, with a median round size of $300M and the largest at $550M. The most recent are Tractian (Series D, $130M, Oct 2026), Reactor (Series A extension, Undisclosed, Oct 2026) and Harvey (Series H, $550M, Sep 2026).
Sapphire Ventures most often invests alongside Lightspeed Venture Partners, Andreessen Horowitz, M&G Catalyst and N47, and the companies it backs on AI Lounge are mostly in Physical AI for industrial operations, World model inference and Legal AI.
Deals
Frequently asked questions about Sapphire Ventures
Who founded Sapphire Ventures and when?
It was founded in 1996 as the venture arm of SAP. It became independent in 2011 and was renamed Sapphire Ventures in 2014. Nino Marakovic is co-founder and CEO.
What AI companies has Sapphire Ventures invested in?
Examples include Harvey, Gimlet Labs, Glean, LangChain, Temporal, Clay, EliseAI and ElevenLabs. Harvey (Series H) and Gimlet Labs (Series B) both raised in September 2026.
What stage does Sapphire Ventures invest at?
It backs post-product-market-fit, expansion-stage enterprise software and AI companies. Its public rounds include Series B through Series H.
How big a check does Sapphire Ventures write?
The firm has not published a check size range. Its Fund VI is a $1.75B later-stage fund, per PitchBook.
Who at Sapphire Ventures leads AI investing?
Cathy Gao is a partner focused on enterprise AI and health AI. Xiaoping Feng is listed as Head of Data & AI. Nino Marakovic announced the firm's $1B enterprise AI commitment.
Where is Sapphire Ventures based?
Sapphire Ventures is based in Menlo Park, US.
Who does Sapphire Ventures co-invest with?
Sapphire Ventures's most frequent co-investors on AI Lounge are Lightspeed Venture Partners (2 deals), Andreessen Horowitz (2 deals), M&G Catalyst (1 deal), N47 (1 deal) and General Catalyst (1 deal).
How can founders reach Sapphire Ventures?
Founders on AI Lounge can see Sapphire 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 Sapphire Ventures to their Investor Pipeline to track the conversation.