Here’s the awful thing about having Mike Arrington as an investor in your fund. You don’t get to control over when you announce it. Arrington is on stage with Ron Conway and David Lee of SV Angels right now, and he’s being a bulldog in the best sense of the world. He asked about the firm’s new fund and Lee said “We aren’t supposed to comment on it, so no comment.” To which, Arrington said, “Well I’m an investor in the fund.” Guess it exists.
The new fund will co-invest with Yuri Milner in backing every single Y Combinator company that will take their money. In the last class 43 of 44 took the deal. The one who didn’t was Likealittle, which had already raised money from several VCs including SV Angels. Thirteen of those have raised additional rounds.
The new Y Combinator class is far bigger with more than sixty companies, so SV Angel isn’t so much doubling down on the strategy as it is nearly tripling down. “This is getting towards $9 million,” Arrington asked. “You guys still comfortable with that?”
“In the short term we’re going to stay committed to it,” Lee said. “These are some of the best founders around.”