technology
Vermilion Cliffs Ventures Closes $25 Million Fund II
@techcrunch reported that the firm founded in 2023 by solo GP Ashley Smith closed its second fund on July 8, 2026. The vehicle targets AI infrastructure, security, and developer tools with average checks of $500,000 to $1 million.
Jul 8, 11:04 AM·1m read1 source
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Vermilion Cliffs Ventures closed a $25 million second fund on July 8, 2026, @techcrunch reported. The firm, founded in 2023 by Ashley Smith, will continue backing technical founders building in AI infrastructure, security, and dev tools. Smith raised the fund in roughly four months, drawing much of the capital from existing investors.
The average check size will range between $500,000 and $1 million. The firm has already deployed capital into six companies and plans to back at least 25 startups over the next two and a half years. Vermilion Cliffs previously raised a $13 million debut fund that supported 35 companies, including cybersecurity startup Keycard and AI infrastructure company CopilotKit.
Smith, who previously worked in marketing at Twilio, Facebook, GitHub, and GitLab, said the firm aims to assist founders with go-to-market strategies. “Selling to developers and security teams is its own discipline, and most founders learn it the expensive way with time,” she said.
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