Vermillion Cliffs Ventures announced the closing of a $25 million Fund II on Wednesday. The firm was founded in 2023 by operator-turned-investor Ashley Smith, who runs it as one of the few solo female GPs in venture capital. Speaking to TechCrunch, Smith said the fund will continue the firm’s thesis of supporting tech founders, particularly those building AI infrastructure, security and development tools.
It took them about four months to raise new funds this year, he said, with most of the capital coming from existing investors. The average check size for Fund II will be between $500,000 and $1 million, and it expects to invest in at least 25 companies over the next two and a half years, having already backed six. The firm had previously raised a debut fund of $13 million, backing 35 companies including cybersecurity startup Keycard and AI infrastructure company Copilotkit.
Smith said many early-stage companies exist to help founders get to the next round, and from her experience working in marketing at Twilio, Facebook, GitHub, and GitLab, she hopes to help founders with go-to-market strategies that help them earn money. “Selling to developers and security teams is its own discipline, and most founders learn it expensively over time,” he said. “I try to help them unlearn the mistakes I’ve made or seen other founders make.”
