19 VCs that are registered investment advisers

As the venture industry matures, more firms are expanding the types of investments they make and services they offer. If a firm’s non-traditional investments – such as crypto, secondaries and debt – exceed more than 20 percent of assets under management, then the firm must officially register with the SEC as a Registered Investment Adviser.

Venture Capital Journal has identified 19 firms that are RIAs. Scroll down to see the list, which includes the firms’ SEC file numbers and links to their most recent Form ADV filings.

We researched the firms on the VCJ 50, which lists the largest venture firms worldwide based on cumulative fundraising over the prior five years. Like the majority of the industry, most firms on the VCJ 50 are Exempt Reporting Advisers, meaning they don’t have to file regular updates with the SEC like RIAs.

Our research found that six firms have become RIAs in the past five years: Andreessen Horowitz, Bessemer Venture Partners, General Catalyst Partners, Sequoia Capital, Ribbit Capital and Thrive Capital.

Other interesting tidbits from our research:

• The VC firm that has been an RIA the longest is OrbiMed Advisors, a life sciences and healthcare investor based in New York. It became an RIA in April 2002.
• The VC that most recently joined the list is Bessemer Venture Partners, a multi-stage tech investor based in San Francisco, which received approval in June of this year.

The following list is not definitive. If you are aware of a firm that is missing, please email lawrence.a@peimedia.com.

Update: This story was updated on September 7, 2023, to add Motivate Venture Capital (aka Motivate Capital Management) to the list. The Chicago-based firm, which has about $183 million in regulatory assets under management, specializes in pre-seed and seed investments in tech companies. Motivate became an RIA on June 27, 2023. See its most recent Form ADV here.