Spark Capital Partner Yasmin Razavi Lands on Midas List After Early Anthropic Bet

Spark Capital partner Yasmin Razavi has been named to the Forbes Midas List for the first time after leading an early investment in Anthropic. In May 2023 Razavi led a $450 million round that valued Anthropic at $5 billion. The round came when the company had no public product and no revenue.

Razavi wrote two investment memos to persuade other Spark partners. She described the decision as the largest check the firm had ever written. Spark’s initial $75 million check plus follow-on investments is now worth at least $3 billion. Altimeter Capital investor Pauline Yang called the investment one of the best of this generation.

Anthropic is now valued at $380 billion and is in talks to raise at a $900 billion valuation.

5 billion in revenue last year. Its annualized run rate is projected to reach $30 billion this year. Razavi encouraged the company to focus on coding tools. 5 billion in run-rate revenue by April. The launch of Claude Code triggered a $285 billion sell-off in software stocks in February.

Razavi was born in Tehran and moved to Canada as a teenager. She later worked at Index Ventures and attended Harvard Business School before joining Spark Capital. She previously led investments in Marqeta and Deel. Both companies reached multibillion-dollar valuations after her initial backing. Razavi has also backed Crusoe and MatX as part of broader AI-related investments.

“Every year, he puts out outrageous numbers but somehow they magically become true. Dario never misses.”