Ballistic Ventures seeks $490M for two new cybersecurity funds

Ballistic Ventures, the San Francisco cybersecurity venture firm co-founded by former Kleiner Perkins partner Ted Schlein, has filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to raise $490 million across two new funds, according to regulatory filings seen by TechCrunch.

The filings, submitted this week, break into two vehicles. The firm is seeking $360 million for its third flagship fund, matching the size of its previous flagship raised in 2024, and another $130 million for a separate vehicle called Ballistic Ventures Fund B. Neither fund had recorded any sales at the time of filing, meaning the totals represent targets rather than committed capital. Ballistic Ventures declined to comment on its fundraising plans.

Why is the firm raising money now?

The timing tracks a shift in the security market driven by artificial intelligence. The growing use of AI has raised concerns about more sophisticated cyberattacks, and the rise of AI agents — autonomous software systems that perform tasks on a user's behalf — has created new opportunities for cybersecurity startups and for the venture capital firms backing them.

The money flowing into the sector reflects that shift. U.S. cybersecurity startups raised $11.5 billion in 2025, the highest total since 2022, according to a recent JPMorgan Chase report citing PitchBook data. AI-enabled companies accounted for roughly 72% of U.S. cybersecurity venture deals through May of this year, up from 36% in 2019. In the span of six years, AI-centric startups have moved from a minority of security deal flow to the clear majority.

The threat side is moving in parallel. Microsoft, in its annual Digital Defense Report released last month, warned that hackers are increasingly using AI for activities ranging from phishing and social engineering to malware development. The technology allows attackers to operate faster and at greater scale, Microsoft said, even as many of their underlying techniques remain unchanged. That dynamic — faster, cheaper attacks on one side and AI-native defense opportunities on the other — forms the market backdrop for Ballistic's new raise.

Who is behind Ballistic Ventures?

Ballistic Ventures was founded in late 2021. Its founding team includes Schlein, who spent more than two decades at Kleiner Perkins before departing the storied venture firm; Barmak Meftah, former president of AT&T Cybersecurity; and Roger Thornton, who co-founded the security companies Fortify Software and AlienVault.

Those Kleiner Perkins ties help set Ballistic apart from rivals, a cybersecurity investor at another VC firm told TechCrunch. The firm's investment strategy, however, is similar to those of other cybersecurity-focused investors, including Forgepoint Capital and Ten Eleven Ventures, that person said.

The firm's portfolio includes two notable exits. Talon Cyber Security, a Ballistic-backed company, was acquired by Palo Alto Networks, and Pangea was bought by CrowdStrike. Its active investments include Armadin, GetReal, Nudge Security and Oligo Security.

How large is Ballistic's track record?

The new filings follow a consistent fundraising cadence:

• 2022: Ballistic announced its $300 million debut fund.
• 2024: The firm raised $360 million for its second flagship fund.
• Separately: It raised about $130 million for a vehicle called Ballistic Ventures Fund A, according to PitchBook data.

The new Fund B targets a similar amount to Fund A, at roughly $130 million. The third flagship, at $360 million, would match the second flagship exactly, signaling that the firm is scaling its core strategy steadily rather than dramatically — a roughly 20% step up from the $300 million debut fund to each subsequent flagship, followed by flat sizing across generations two and three.

What does the raise say about the cybersecurity market?

The $490 million combined target lands in a sector that has recovered its fundraising momentum. The $11.5 billion raised by U.S. cybersecurity startups in 2025 marks the highest annual figure since 2022, per the JPMorgan report. The doubling of AI-enabled companies' share of security deals — from 36% in 2019 to about 72% through May — indicates that investors now price AI capability as a default feature of security startups rather than a differentiator.

Competition among dedicated cybersecurity investors is also concentrated. Ballistic, Forgepoint Capital and Ten Eleven Ventures pursue similar strategies, according to the investor TechCrunch spoke with, which means the firm's brand, its Kleiner Perkins lineage and its exit record with Palo Alto Networks and CrowdStrike acquisitions carry weight in winning deals.

The filing also arrives amid escalating warnings about AI-assisted attacks. Microsoft's Digital Defense Report identified AI use across phishing, social engineering and malware development, with attackers gaining speed and scale even as their core techniques stay the same. Security spending tends to track threat perception, and the report contributes to a market environment in which both corporate buyers and venture backers treat AI-driven defense as a priority.

What happens next?

Neither fund has recorded sales yet, so the coming months will show whether Ballistic hits its $490 million combined target. If the third flagship closes at $360 million as filed, the firm will have raised more than $1.1 billion across its flagship vehicles since 2022 — a figure that positions it to keep pace with a sector where AI-native startups now dominate the majority of venture deals.