TBPN · Oct 8, 2026 · 21m · 9m saved
With Rebecca Kaden, Managing Partner at Union Square Ventures · Michael Mignano, Partner at Union Square Ventures
Union Square Ventures has raised $900 million for its new funds, the largest fund cycle in the firm's history, and its partners said the extra money answers a market where rounds are bigger and companies stay private longer.
Most large venture firms have gone much bigger. Michael Mignano said USV wants to stay smaller than the mega funds, because at $900 million a company that exits at a single-digit-billion valuation still produces a very meaningful return.
"When you play that out and when you think about what things going right looks like, the highs are higher." — Rebecca Kaden
Rebecca Kaden, a managing partner at Union Square Ventures who has spent nearly ten years at the firm and has invested in robotics there for years, joined Michael Mignano, who built and sold the podcast company Anchor to Spotify before becoming a USV partner in April, on TBPN on the day the funds were announced.
The full interview is covered here so you can skip it. 21 minutes of audio, 12 minutes of reading.
Here are the 9 takeaways that matter.
Key Takeaways
USV raised $900 million, the largest fund cycle in its history, and says its idea-driven approach is not changing
Robotics and energy companies need more capital and more time than pure software, which is why LPs accept longer timelines
A smaller fund means a single-digit-billion exit still pays, while past USV companies reached $50 billion and $100 billion valuations
AI makes a good product easier to build, not easier to win with
So USV now weighs whether a founder can raise a lot of money
Four traits, in Kaden's list: a view others don't share, the pull to hire, speed, and a story that wins the market before it is obvious
USV publishes half-formed ideas on purpose, and Kaden calls gatekeeping ideas "a totally losing game"
USV built Supertake itself after finding no company building a personal AI investing agent
1. The Largest USV Fund Yet
The hosts opened by calling it a monumental day for the firm and asked what had happened.
USV announced new funds totaling $900 million
"It's a big day. We announced our new set of funds. We raised $900,000,000, which is the largest fund cycle in the USV's history." — Rebecca Kaden
Asked whether anything was changing or whether this was the same strategy with more money, Kaden said some of both. Rounds are bigger, things are moving quickly, the opportunities are very large, and the team has new members such as Mignano.
The way USV picks investments stays the same, she said
"But the idea driven focused investing that we've always done, we will continue." — Rebecca Kaden
"We'll just do it with more firepower and able to lean into the things we're excited about in a bigger way." — Rebecca Kaden
