Venture capital firm Mayfield has hired Adit Singh as an infrastructure partner, adding an investor with a background in semiconductors, hardware, and early-stage infrastructure companies. Singh previously helped source and co-lead Foundation Capital’s first investment in Cerebras, which went public in May and now trades at a valuation of nearly $50 billion.
Foundation Capital held about a 7% stake in Cerebras at the time of its IPO, making it the company’s third-largest shareholder. Singh left Foundation years before the listing, later co-founding Neotribe Ventures and joining Cota Capital.
Singh Will Focus on Hardware and Infrastructure
At Mayfield, Singh will invest across hardware, infrastructure software, cybersecurity, and physical AI. He said the firm’s semiconductor portfolio was one of the main reasons he decided to join.
Singh pointed to Mayfield investments including Upscale AI, recently valued at $2 billion, and Lumilens, which raised $700 million at a $5.5 billion valuation.
Singh trained as a chip designer and said his technical background helps him evaluate computing workloads from the application layer down to the transistor level. He credited that experience with helping him identify Cerebras’ potential about a decade ago.
Larger Seed Rounds Influenced the Move
Singh said the growing size of seed-stage infrastructure rounds also influenced his decision to move to Mayfield. Smaller venture firms can struggle to participate when early-stage companies raise increasingly large rounds.
Mayfield manages about $3 billion in assets and can write seed checks of up to $20 million. That gives the firm more room to participate in capital-intensive infrastructure startups at an early stage.
Singh co-founded Neotribe Ventures in 2017 and spent four years leading the firm before moving to Cota Capital.
Mayfield managing partner Navin Chaddha said he had known Singh for about 15 years and had served with him on three startup boards, including Upscale AI and Velaura AI. Chaddha said the firm had been discussing a potential move with Singh for some time before the two sides reached an agreement.
Featured image credits: Wikimedia Commons
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