- Base10 Partners has closed $850M across two new funds, bringing total assets under management to $2.6B, backed by CalPERS, Sofina, and other institutional investors
- The San Francisco firm, one of the world’s largest Black-led VC funds, has backed category leaders including Nubank, Brex, Instacart, Notion, and HappyRobot.
- Base10 is doubling down on its founding thesis: that the biggest AI winners won’t be model builders, but the companies applying AI to logistics, finance, healthcare, and operations.
Most venture firms chasing AI have pivoted to chase it.Base10 Partners has been running toward the same thesis since 2018. Now, with $850M in fresh capital and $2.6B under management, it has the firepower to prove the bet was right.
The San Francisco firm, one of the world’s largest Black-led venture capital funds, has closed two new funds: a seed and Series A vehicle (Fund 4) and a Series B fund (Fund 2). LPs include CalPERS, Sofina, endowments, sovereign wealth funds, and other institutional investors. The capital is already being deployed.
Base10 was founded in 2018 by Adeyemi Ajao and TJ Nahigian around a simple, unfashionable idea: that the most durable AI opportunity was not in building foundation models or developer tools, but in automating the industries that actually run the world — logistics, financial services, healthcare, transportation, and construction.
When the firm launched its first fund, LPs pushed back. “Applied AI was too ‘niche’ and ‘not a thing’, so we had to change it to Automation,” said Ajao. That framing has aged well.
The portfolio
The company’s current roster includes some of the most recognised names in technology. Nubank, Latin America’s largest digital bank, and Brex sit alongside Instacart, Notion, Figma, Stripe, Motive, and HappyRobot, which closed a $44M Series B led by Base10 in September 2025 to automate logistics operations using AI voice agents.
Ajao joined Motive’s board in December 2025. “He brings a unique perspective on turning AI innovation into durable enterprise value,” said Motive co-founder and CEO Shoaib Makani.
The firm focuses on Seed through Series B investments, targeting companies before the market has fully priced in their category potential. Several Base10 portfolio companies, the firm says, are now scaling from zero to tens of millions in revenue within twelve months.
Why now
“Today, we have several portfolio companies applying AI to the Real Economy that are growing from zero to tens of millions in revenue in under 12 months,” said Ajao. “The Automation of the Real Economy is here. This is what Base10 was founded for.”
The LP base appears to agree. “Base10 has earned our continued confidence through their focus, their portfolio, and the way they show up for founders,” said Benjamin Sabatier, principal at Sofina. “This fundraise is a reflection of what happens when a firm stays focused on what it knows.”
Alongside the fundraise, Base10 reaffirmed its commitment to the Advancement Initiative, its programme to donate up to 50% of carried interest to students from underrepresented backgrounds pursuing careers in technology.
CodePath, a key partner in the initiative, was recently named Anthropic’s flagship economic mobility partner to bring AI-native engineering to students historically locked out of the industry. Base10 has hosted events this year with CodePath, Anthropic, and OpenAI to connect educators, students, and HR leaders navigating the AI transition.
The bigger picture
The deeper question for Base10 is execution at scale.
As AI investment increasingly floods applied verticals, the firm that built its edge on being early now has to prove it can stay ahead of the crowd it helped create. Whether the next Nubank or Brex is already in the portfolio is the bet Ajao and Nahigian are making with this raise.
