# Ravi Mhatre

> Ravi Mhatre is a Partner and Co-Founder of Lightspeed Venture Partners, one of the world's premier venture capital firms. Over 25 years, he has built Lightspeed's enterprise practice into a powerhouse, backing transformative companies like Anthropic, AppDynamics, MuleSoft, Nutanix, Rubrik, ThoughtSpot, and Zscaler. A five-time Forbes Midas List honoree (2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2025), Mhatre led Lightspeed's $1 billion investment in Anthropic's $3.5B Series E and helped raise over $9 billion across six funds in 2025. The son of an Indian immigrant and a Brooklyn-born mother who lived on three continents before turning 18, Mhatre holds three degrees from Stanford and has dedicated his career to partnering with founders innovating in enterprise IT, AI, blockchain, and cloud technologies.

- **Role:** Partner & Co-Founder at Lightspeed Venture Partners
- **Organizations:** Lightspeed Venture Partners, Lightspeed India, Stanford Business School Trust (advisory board), Western Association of Venture Capitalists (former board member), The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE) Silicon Valley (former board member)
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** BS in Electrical Engineering, Stanford University, BA in Economics, Stanford University, MBA, Stanford Graduate School of Business
- **Known for:** Five-time Forbes Midas List honoree (2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2025) - ranked #55 in 2025, Co-founded Lightspeed Venture Partners in 2000, building it into a premier global VC firm, Led Lightspeed's $1 billion investment in Anthropic's $3.5B Series E financing

## Career timeline

- **1989** — Graduated from Stanford University with BS in Electrical Engineering and BA in Economics
- **Early 1990s** — Worked as software engineer at biotech instrument manufacturer in Silicon Valley
- **Early 1990s** — Product manager and market development director at Silicon Graphics
- **1993** — Earned MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business
- **Mid 1990s** — Management consultant at Booz Allen Hamilton
- **Mid 1990s** — Technology investment banking at Lehman Brothers
- **Late 1990s** — Venture capitalist at Bessemer Venture Partners
- **2000** — Co-founded Lightspeed Venture Partners
- **2017-2025** — Named to Forbes Midas List five times (2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2025)
- **2023** — Led early investment in Anthropic when they were pre-revenue with fewer than 100 employees
- **2024** — Led Anthropic's $3.5B Series E with $1B investment from Lightspeed
- **2025-12** — Lightspeed closed over $9B across six new funds
- **2026-02** — Predicted 2026 as AI's 'demo-to-deployment' year in Bloomberg interview

## Achievements

- Five-time Forbes Midas List honoree (2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2025) - ranked #55 in 2025
- Co-founded Lightspeed Venture Partners in 2000, building it into a premier global VC firm
- Led Lightspeed's $1 billion investment in Anthropic's $3.5B Series E financing
- Helped raise over $9 billion across six funds for Lightspeed in 2025
- Invested in 70+ portfolio companies including multiple unicorns and IPOs
- Backed transformative companies: Anthropic, AppDynamics, MuleSoft, Nutanix, Rubrik, ThoughtSpot, Zscaler, Anduril, Guardant Health, Natera, Offchain Labs
- Led Lightspeed's AI investment strategy - over $5.5B invested across 165 AI-focused companies since 2012
- Served on boards of Rubrik, ThoughtSpot, Zscaler, Nutanix, AppDynamics, MuleSoft
- Member of Stanford Business School Trust advisory board
- Former Board Director of WAVC and TiE Silicon Valley

## Latest updates

- **2026-02** — Appeared on Bloomberg TV predicting 2026 as AI's 'demo-to-deployment' year, describing the shift as '10x faster and 10x broader than any other platform shifts in technology'
- **2025-12** — Lightspeed closed over $9 billion across six new funds, including a $3.3B opportunity fund and $1.8B select fund
- **2025-12** — Sold $8.3M in Rubrik shares as board director
- **2025-09** — Named to Forbes Midas List 2025 at position #55
- **2024** — Led Lightspeed's $1 billion investment in Anthropic's $3.5B Series E financing round

## Links

- Website: https://lsvp.com/team-member/ravi-mhatre/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ravimhatre/
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/ravi_lsvp

---

Profile page: https://yespress.io/ravi-mhatre
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-05-03