Menlo investor points to Anthropic’s rapid revenue climb

Anthropic’s revenue pace reached a reported $47 billion run rate by May, up from $9 billion in 2025, according to TechCrunch. For retail investors tracking the AI boom from the public markets, that kind of private-company growth helps explain why venture capital is still crowding into artificial intelligence startups.

A revenue run rate is a way to annualize a company’s current sales pace. It does not mean the company has already booked that full amount over a year, but it gives investors a shorthand for how large the business would be if its current revenue level continued.

Menlo Ventures partner Matt Murphy told TechCrunch’s Equity podcast that Anthropic’s growth is unlike anything he has seen in 25 years of investing. According to TechCrunch, Murphy said the pace stands apart from earlier technology cycles, including the internet era, mobile and the first cloud computing boom.

Menlo had an early seat at the table. TechCrunch reported that the venture firm led Anthropic’s $500 million Series D financing round. A Series D is a later-stage private funding round, typically used by startups that have already raised several earlier rounds and are trying to scale operations, products or market reach.

Murphy’s comments matter because they frame Anthropic’s rise as more than a contest over which AI company has the strongest model. TechCrunch said the Equity conversation with Julie Bort focused on why “a great model was never the point,” as well as what Murphy sees driving the fastest-growing startups he has backed.

Anthropic, known for its Claude AI products, has become one of the most closely watched private companies in artificial intelligence. TechCrunch described Menlo’s investment as coming when Anthropic was still pre-revenue and had not yet launched, before its rise into one of the most valuable startups.

The episode also covered Murphy’s experience backing Anthropic before broader investor support arrived, according to TechCrunch. That early-stage context is central to how venture investors judge AI companies: they are often placing capital before there is much revenue, then watching for signs that customers are turning the technology into recurring spending.

For investors outside the venture world, the numbers are a reminder that the AI market is still being shaped in private companies as much as in listed stocks. Anthropic’s reported run-rate jump gives one data point on demand, while Murphy’s view points to the broader question facing the sector: which AI businesses can turn technical strength into durable revenue growth.

This story draws on original reporting from TechCrunch.