Menlo Ventures says AI has entered phase 2, with infrastructure as the real opportunity
mmurph · x · 2026-08-04
Menlo Ventures says AI has entered “Phase 2,” where the game shifts from model selection to optimization, and sees the biggest opportunity in infrastructure.
Matt Murphy says the firm is writing small checks across the category, then doubling down on breakout winners. He also says Menlo is leaning in earlier at seed and bigger at growth, with portfolio names including Anthropic, Lovable, OpenRouter, Fireworks, Suno, Wispr Flow, Modal, Goodfire, Harness, and Chai Discovery.
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