--- title: Lightspeed is selling its OpenAI stake to a fund it will... description: Lightspeed Venture Partners is raising a roughly $600m continuation fund, dubbed Project Mercury, to move stakes in OpenAI, Anthropic, Verkada, Rippling, Glean... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/lightspeed-is-selling-its-openai-stake-to-a-fund-it-will-also-run-fve91p5zw twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Lightspeed is selling its OpenAI stake to a fund it will also run | daily.dev og:description: Lightspeed Venture Partners is raising a roughly $600m continuation fund, dubbed Project Mercury, to move stakes in OpenAI, Anthropic, Verkada, Rippling, Glean... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/lightspeed-is-selling-its-openai-stake-to-a-fund-it-will-also-run-fve91p5zw og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/fVE91p5Zw.png og:image:alt: Lightspeed is selling its OpenAI stake to a fund it will also run og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Lightspeed is selling its OpenAI stake to a fund it will also run **[The Next Web](https://daily.dev/sources/tnw)** · 5 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary Lightspeed Venture Partners is raising a roughly $600m continuation fund, dubbed Project Mercury, to move stakes in OpenAI, Anthropic, Verkada, Rippling, Glean and Reflection AI out of two aging funds into a new vehicle it will also manage. Coller Capital, now owned by Sweden's EQT, is the lead buyer, with UBS advising. The deal lets original investors cash out or roll over while Lightspeed keeps its positions, sidestepping the typical ten-year fund lifecycle that no longer fits how long AI startups stay private. The Anthropic piece is described as a fresh commitment rather than a rollover, priced against a $965bn valuation. The piece frames this as part of a broader wave of venture secondaries and fund restructurings driven by concentrated AI megadeals. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### What is a venture capital continuation fund and why do firms use them? A continuation fund is a new investment vehicle that a venture firm creates to hold selected assets from an aging fund past its typical ten-year life, so original investors can cash out or roll their stake while the firm keeps managing the position. It solves the mismatch between fund lifespans and companies staying private far longer than a decade, letting managers defend winning stakes against dilution without forcing a sale. _Investors weighing fund structures follow venture financing trends like these on daily.dev._ ### What valuation did OpenAI's last funding round set, and how is that number used in secondary deals? OpenAI's most recent primary round valued the company at $852bn post-money in March, following a $122bn raise. In secondary transactions like continuation funds, that primary round price becomes the reference point buyers and sellers use to set a transfer price for existing stakes, even though there's no public share price to confirm it's accurate. _Anyone tracking AI company valuations can follow how private funding rounds get priced on daily.dev._ ### How large is the venture secondaries market compared to a few years ago? Venture-led secondary deals reached $35bn in 2025, roughly double the 2023 figure, according to PJT Partners, and that sits within a broader secondaries market worth $121bn in transactions during the first half of the year. The growth reflects more funds needing liquidity solutions as portfolio companies, especially AI startups, stay private longer. _Those following AI investment and funding trends can track market shifts like this on daily.dev._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Lightspeed raises record $9B in fresh capital](https://daily.dev/posts/lightspeed-raises-record-9b-in-fresh-capital-kwrxdm6w7) · TechCrunch · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Lightspeed targets $250M for new India fund, focusing on early-stage AI](https://daily.dev/posts/lightspeed-targets-250m-for-new-india-fund-focusing-on-early-stage-ai-ionlw21py) · TechCrunch · 1 upvotes · 0 comments - [Founders Fund raises $6B after burning through $4.6B in under a year on Anthropic, Anduril, and OpenAI](https://daily.dev/posts/founders-fund-raises-6b-after-burning-through-4-6b-in-under-a-year-on-anthropic-anduril-and-open-w6tx1tlrv) · The Next Web · 5 upvotes · 0 comments - [Anthropic tightens the screws on OpenAI](https://daily.dev/posts/anthropic-tightens-the-screws-on-openai-6hmov83ms) · TechCentral · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#startup](https://daily.dev/tags/startup), [#venture-capital](https://daily.dev/tags/venture-capital), [#openai](https://daily.dev/tags/openai), [#anthropic](https://daily.dev/tags/anthropic) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/lightspeed-is-selling-its-openai-stake-to-a-fund-it-will-also-run-fve91p5zw) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"Lightspeed is selling its OpenAI stake to a fund it will also run","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/lightspeed-is-selling-its-openai-stake-to-a-fund-it-will-also-run-fve91p5zw","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/lightspeed-is-selling-its-openai-stake-to-a-fund-it-will-also-run-fve91p5zw"},"datePublished":"2026-08-14T11:50:31.876Z","dateModified":"2026-08-14T11:50:57.605Z","description":"Lightspeed Venture Partners is raising a roughly $600m continuation fund, dubbed Project Mercury, to move stakes in OpenAI, Anthropic, Verkada, Rippling, Glean...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/a88a9aaa133551bce1d10cb2cbdb6c1c?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/a88a9aaa133551bce1d10cb2cbdb6c1c?_a=AQAEuop","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"The Next Web","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"The Next Web","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/t_logo,f_auto/v1/logos/tnw","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/tnw"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/lightspeed-is-selling-its-openai-stake-to-a-fund-it-will-also-run-fve91p5zw","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":0},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"startup,venture-capital,openai,anthropic","timeRequired":"PT5M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Next Web","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/tnw"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Lightspeed is selling its OpenAI stake to a fund it will also run"}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/lightspeed-is-selling-its-openai-stake-to-a-fund-it-will-also-run-fve91p5zw#faq","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"What is a venture capital continuation fund and why do firms use them?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"A continuation fund is a new investment vehicle that a venture firm creates to hold selected assets from an aging fund past its typical ten-year life, so original investors can cash out or roll their stake while the firm keeps managing the position. 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