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Bessemer Venture Partners traces its money back to the steel age and its venture practice back more than four decades. It invests from seed to late growth across most of technology and health care. On the Peninsula its office is not on Sand Hill Road or University Avenue but in downtown Redwood City. Its stories about deals it won and deals it missed run straight through Palo Alto.
This page is a neutral profile for founders and readers interested in the local venture scene. It relies on the firm's own history and contact pages, a 2022 Business Wire release and Alternatives Watch coverage of its 2026 funds. For background on how venture funds work, start with our venture capital guide.
From steel to software
Bessemer's own timeline starts in 1872, when Henry Phipps and Andrew Carnegie co-founded Carnegie Steel and commercialized the Bessemer process. That process, developed by Henry Bessemer in the 1850s, blasted air through molten iron to burn off impurities. The firm says it cut the cost of making steel by more than 80 percent.
Carnegie Steel became part of U.S. Steel in 1901. In 1911 Phipps set up a family office and named it Bessemer Securities. Over the following decades, the firm says, its high-risk investing mandate moved from industrial companies toward technology. Key dates from its timeline:
- 1976. Bessemer opens its doors in Silicon Valley.
- 1981. The venture group spins out of the family office as Bessemer Venture Partners. Offices in San Francisco, New York and Massachusetts follow.
- 2005. It starts an analyst program for recent college graduates.
- 2006 and 2007. Offices open in India and Tel Aviv.
- 2019. A dedicated growth fund launches.
- 2021. A London office opens.
- 2022. BVP Forge launches as a private equity firm for growth-oriented software and services companies.
- 2023. Bessemer commits $1 billion from its funds to AI companies.
Our history of venture capital on the Peninsula puts these dates in the wider story of the industry.
The Redwood City office
Bessemer's contact page lists its Silicon Valley office at 889 Winslow St, Suite 500, Redwood City, CA 94063. It also lists a San Francisco office at 539 Bryant St. Other offices are in Wellesley, Massachusetts, New York City, Larchmont, New York, Bangalore, Tel Aviv and London.
The Redwood City office is in the city's downtown, about 7 miles north of downtown Palo Alto. Visitors can take Caltrain to the Redwood City station and walk. Our downtown Redwood City guide covers places to eat and meet nearby. The office is private, so visit only for a confirmed meeting.
What Bessemer invests in
Bessemer says it backs founders through two dedicated practices, seed and early stage on one side and growth on the other. Its homepage lists a long set of sectors, each with a published "Roadmap" that lays out the firm's thesis:
- AI, infrastructure, data and cloud
- Developer tools and cybersecurity
- Enterprise and vertical software
- Fintech, crypto and marketplaces
- Consumer
- Healthcare and biotech
- Deep tech, defense, physical AI and robotics
The firm reports $20 billion in assets under management, more than 155 IPOs and deSPAC listings and more than 450 active portfolio companies. Those are its own figures.
Deals the firm tells stories about
Bessemer publishes "The Lore," a set of stories behind well known checks. Several involve the Bay Area:
| Company | What Bessemer says |
|---|---|
| Two partners drove to Palo Alto in the rain to see a five-person company in an apartment; Bessemer led its $10 million Series A in 2011 | |
| Twilio | A $125,000 seed check written over breakfast; the Series A offer was texted through Twilio's own API |
| VeriSign | A partner filed its incorporation papers in January 1995; it went public in January 1998 |
| Toast | After passing twice, the firm sent a term sheet daily until the founders accepted |
| Perplexity | Joined its Series B in 2024 after a partner handed over a term sheet at an airport |
| Legora | Led its Series C in 2025 |
Our Pinterest page covers that company's Palo Alto start. Featured companies on Bessemer's site today include Anthropic, Canva, Ramp, Waymo, Abridge and Axonius. In October 2026 the firm joined the $600 million Series C of Bedrock Robotics, a company built with Eclipse in Palo Alto.
The Anti-Portfolio
Bessemer is known for a page most firms would never publish: a list of great companies it passed on. Two entries are local. In one, a partner's college friend rented her garage to Sergey Brin and Larry Page during Google's first year and tried to introduce them in 1999 and 2000. He asked how he could leave the house "without going anywhere near your garage." Our Google page tells the company's Palo Alto story.
In another, a partner test-drove a Tesla Roadster in 2006, put down a deposit on the car and passed on the company. The page also lists Apple, Atlassian, Facebook and FedEx, which the firm says it passed on seven times. Our Tesla page covers that company's years in Palo Alto.
Funds and size
- September 2022. $4.6 billion across two funds: BVP XII at $3.85 billion and the first BVP Forge fund at $780 million, per the firm's Business Wire release.
- September 2026. $5.75 billion in a single close, with $1.75 billion for seed and early stage and $4 billion for growth, as Alternatives Watch reported on September 24, 2026. The same report put the flagship BVP XIII at $3.4 billion. Bessemer's own timeline describes the total as $5.75 billion in fresh capital.
These are reported fund sizes, not performance figures. This page makes no claims about returns.
How founders reach Bessemer
Bessemer does not publish a pitch form on the pages we read. Its contact page lists office phone numbers. Its Atlas section publishes the Roadmaps and memos that explain what each sector team wants to see. At a firm this size, most new companies arrive through introductions from founders, operators and other investors.
- Read the Roadmap for your sector. It shows how the firm thinks about the market.
- Find a founder or operator in the Bessemer network who can introduce you with context.
- Know which practice fits: seed and early stage, or growth.
- Do not cold message individual partners on personal accounts. Use introductions and the firm's public channels.
Our guide to pitching investors covers meetings and follow-up.
Bessemer in the local ecosystem
Bessemer is an East Coast firm by origin, yet it has had a Silicon Valley presence since 1976, before many of today's Sand Hill Road names existed. Its choice of downtown Redwood City reflects how the Peninsula's venture map has spread north and south from Palo Alto. Its stories also show how much local history sits in a few square miles: a Palo Alto apartment where Pinterest pitched, a nearby garage where Google spent its first year and a 2006 test drive of the first Tesla.
Good to know
- Bessemer's Peninsula office is in Redwood City. Do not head to Sand Hill Road or Palo Alto.
- Caltrain stops in downtown Redwood City, a short walk from Winslow Street.
- Nothing on this page is investment advice. Firm statistics are Bessemer's own.
Frequently asked questions
Where is Bessemer's Silicon Valley office?
Bessemer lists its Silicon Valley office at 889 Winslow St, Suite 500, Redwood City, CA 94063. That is in downtown Redwood City, about 7 miles north of downtown Palo Alto and within walking distance of the Redwood City Caltrain station. The firm also has a San Francisco office.
Is Bessemer Venture Partners in Palo Alto?
No. Bessemer's Peninsula office is in Redwood City, not Palo Alto or Sand Hill Road. Its history still runs through Palo Alto: the firm says it led Pinterest's $10 million Series A in 2011 after visiting the five-person company in a Palo Alto apartment.
Where does the name Bessemer come from?
The name honors the Bessemer process, the first method for making steel at industrial scale. Henry Phipps, a partner of Andrew Carnegie in Carnegie Steel, founded a family office in 1911 and named it Bessemer Securities. The venture group that grew inside it spun out as Bessemer Venture Partners in 1981.
What is the Bessemer Anti-Portfolio?
It is a page where Bessemer lists famous companies it passed on, with the story of each miss. Entries include Apple, Atlassian, Facebook, FedEx, Google and Tesla. The Google story involves a partner who avoided meeting two Stanford students working out of a friend's garage.
How big are Bessemer's funds?
Bessemer closed $5.75 billion in new capital in September 2026, with $1.75 billion for seed and early stage and $4 billion for growth, as Alternatives Watch reported. In 2022 it closed $4.6 billion across BVP XII and its first BVP Forge fund.