Reach Capital raises $265M for Fund V to back AI founders in education and workforce

Reach Capital just closed its fifth fund at $265 million, oversubscribed and potentially stretching to $275 million in total commitments. The venture firm, which has spent a decade betting on the intersection of technology and human potential, is now making its biggest wager yet: that AI-native companies will reshape how people learn and work. Fund V represents a meaningful step up from Fund IV, which closed at $215 million in April 2023. That’s roughly a 23% increase in a fundraising environment where plenty of venture firms have struggled to match, let alone exceed, their prior raises. Where the money is going Reach Capital focuses on early-stage investments, primarily at the pre-seed and seed stages. The firm’s thesis centers on AI-native solutions in education and workforce development, two sectors that have historically attracted patient capital but are now drawing faster money thanks to the generative AI wave. Founded in 2015 by Jennifer Carolan, Wayee Chu, Shauntel Garvey, and Esteban Sosnik, the firm has built a reputation as one of the more focused shops in edtech investing, having backed companies including ClassDojo, Outschool, and Nearpod. That focus is now expanding to...