Edition #27. Anthropic and Perplexity backer Accel raised $5 billion for its largest-ever pool of late-stage capital this week to back artificial intelligence (AI) companies as they sprint from Series A to IPO. About $4 billion will flow into the venture capital firm’s fifth Leaders Fund, Bloomberg reported.
“The rules of company-building are rewriting themselves in real time. AI has collapsed the distance between having an idea and scaling it… We’ve raised $5 billion in late-stage capital, reflecting our commitment to this shift,” the firm said in a statement. Accel partner Andrew Weigand told Bloomberg the later stage fund will make 20-25 investments with average cheque sizes at $200 million.
The $5 billion is aimed at fueling a strategy already in motion. Accel is on the Anthropic cap table, whose valuation climbed to $380 billion in February. It is also an investor in Anysphere, which was valued at $29.3 billion in November. Both companies are widely expected to test the public markets this year.
The war chest also comes at a time when global venture capital deployments in AI are at record highs. Q1 2026 saw $242 billion invested in AI companies, accounting for 80% of all venture funding during the quarter, according to Crunchbase – a massive jump from the $56 billion deployed in Q4 2025.
In India, while Accel invests primarily from country-specific funds, it also invests selectively from the later stage Leaders Fund. The firm, which remains the country’s most prolific early stage investor with $3 billion raised across multiple funds, is currently investing here from the $650 million Fund VIII. A significant portion is earmarked for AI bets, articulated as enterprise AI (agentic platforms built on large and small language models); services as software (AI startups leveraging India’s deep IT services capabilities to drive automation); and vertical AI (sector-specific applications). Layered on top is Atoms, a pre-seed programme that has backed over 40 companies since 2021 and now runs dedicated AI cohorts in partnership with Google’s AI Futures Fund and Prosus.
Its most recent AI-related investments here include Fibr AI (led a $5.7 million round in the agentic web experience platform) and Bachatt (led a $12 million round in the AI-led savings and wealth platform). The portfolio also includes Bengaluru-based AI infrastructure platform Simplismart; RapidClaims, which uses AI for US healthcare revenue cycle management; Zoca, the IIT Kharagpur-founded agentic AI platform for hyperlocal services; and Posha (AI-powered kitchen robotics).
Accel’s $5 billion raise is the latest in a procession of mega-funds that have reshaped the venture capital league table over the past 18 months.
Lightspeed Venture Partners raised $9 billion across multiple vehicles in December, its largest raise in 25 years. The firm started investing in AI in 2012 and has since backed 165 AI-native companies, deploying more than $5.5 billion into the category, it said at the time. Andreessen Horowitz raised the bar in January this year, closing more than $15 billion across six funds and taking its assets under management past $90 billion. In March, Kleiner Perkins raised $3.5 billion with a specific focus on AI.
Sequoia Capital rounded out the cycle this week. Bloomberg reported that the firm had raised approximately $7 billion for a new fund — its first major fundraise under co-stewards Alfred Lin and Pat Grady. Sequoia was an original backer of OpenAI and joined Anthropic’s February Series G.
The Week in Deals
Everstone Expands Pharma Portfolio; BII Bets on Smart Metering
Dealmaking slowed this week across stages and sectors. Pharma, smart metering, a hostel chain for backpackers, and specialty coffee were among the deals that made it through.
Apothecon Group raised $270 million led by Everstone Capital, which is picking up a “substantial stake” in the company. Apothecon’s European partner Waymade participated in the transaction via its investment vehicle Waymade Capital, Everstone said in a statement.
The capital will be deployed in Vadodara-based Apothecon Group and its US-based sister concern Navinta.
The combined platform is a regulated markets-focused, speciality formulations business with in-house formulations and captive API manufacturing.
“With its own manufacturing facilities, the company has built a resilient and self-reliant business model, serving its core markets including the US and Europe, and beyond. This investment adds to Everstone Capital’s history of building and scaling healthcare and pharmaceutical businesses globally,” Everstone Group co-founder and CIO Atul Kapur said.
Polaris Smart Metering raised $80 million from British International Investment for its subsidiary Hooghly Smart Metering Private Limited. This investment will enable the deployment of over 2.2 million smart meters in West Bengal, the Jaipur-based company said in a statement.
Val-Met Engineering raised $21.6 million from Nuvama Crossover Opportunities Funds. Nuvama acquired a minority stake in the Chennai-based company which offers end-to-end supply chain management to global and Indian aerospace OEMs.
The Hosteller raised $16 million in Series B funding co-led by Promaft Partners and V3 Ventures. ITI Growth Opportunities Fund and Merisis Wealth Trust participated in the round. The Mumbai-based backpacker hostel chain has a presence in 13 states.
GobbleCube raised $15 million in a Series A round led by Susquehanna Venture Capital. Existing investors InfoEdge Ventures and Kae Capital participated in the round. The Gurugram-based company’s AI-led analytics platform claims to help brands improve real-time visibility and performance marketing.
TraqCheck raised $8 million in a Series A round led by IvyCap Ventures, with participation from IIFL. The London-based HR tech startup also operates out of New Delhi and is building autonomous AI agents for enterprise hiring workflows.
Sub $5 million deals: Smart home automation startup Aliste Technologies raised $3.2 million in a pre-Series A round led by Big Global JSC, the corporate venture arm of Vietnamese conglomerate Bitexco. Men’s personal care startup Unbound Lifestyle raised $0.86 million in a round led by Fireside Ventures. Fragrance brand Fifth Sense raised $0.67 million in a seed funding round led by OTP Ventures. Specialty coffee roaster and machine manufacturer Cohoma Coffee raised $0.53 million in seed funding from Inflection Point Ventures and Swishin Venture.
In news related to the secondary market, Swiss private equity major Partners Group raised $9 billion for its eighth private equity secondaries program. Around one third of new commitments came from markets outside of Europe, with the largest individual commitments from investors in the Asia-Pacific region, the firm said in a statement. Its secondaries business invested more than $4 billion globally last year. Reuters reported last month that the firm was in the process of raising a $1 billion inaugural India-specific buyout fund.
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Recco | Notes on Culture, Craft and the Considered Life
Tudor Monarch: A California Dial for the Centenary
The ongoing Watches & Wonders trade fair in Geneva has seen a slew of delicious releases, from the Rolex Oyster Perpetual 41 and the Ressence Type 11 Pine, to the TAG Heuer Monaco Evergraph and the 37mm Bulgari Octo Finissimo.
Our pick of the lot, though, is the relatively more accessible Tudor Monarch. Launched as part of the Swiss watchmaker’s centenary celebrations, the Monarch is distinguished by a California dial — Roman numerals from 10 to 2 and Arabic numerals from 4 to 8.
The vertical brushing on the dark champagne dial is inspired by the texture of papyrus, lending it a faintly archival feel, while the inner railroad track nods to early 20th-century design codes.
The 39mm stainless steel case features sharply faceted lines and alternating polished and satin finishes. Inside is Tudor’s Manufacture Calibre MT5662-2U, visible through a display caseback. It shows hours and minutes at the centre, small seconds at 6 o’clock, and offers a 65-hour power reserve. The watch is certified by COSC and also carries METAS Master Chronometer certification — a Swiss government-backed standard that tests the fully assembled watch.
At about CHF 4,800, the 39mm Monarch doesn’t come cheap — but it’s the kind of temptation that lingers long after the fair lights dim.
Recco is a column by Murali Menon. Murali has spent a career paying close attention to how things are made, where they come from, and why some of them endure. Every edition, one recommendation: a maker, an object, a place, a practice.
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