US

Talent directors Janine O’Neill, Kimber Schlegelmilch and Brandon Sligh are no longer listed on Sequoia's operator team page after reports that it let go of seven people from its operations team.

The Los Angeles-based firm just closed on $40 million for its debut fund, with commitments from Bank of America, 301 INC, Illumen Capital's Catalyst Fund, JP Morgan Asset Management, MassMutual and the Illinois Growth and Innovation Fund.

The Italian venture firm has held a first close on its third early-stage fund, United Ventures III. Backers include Italian and international institutional investors.

Oliver Libby of H/L Ventures outlines the key steps the venture industry needs to take "to ensure that we are behaving responsibly enough to avoid heavy-handed governance and regulation."

Even as they become more powerful in the venture ecosystem, women must overcome unique challenges when they are fundraising.

Venture funds worldwide raised a combined $58.1bn in the first half of 2023, down from about $100bn in the first half of last year, according to exclusive Venture Capital Journal research.

Mayfield is making a major push into AI, raising $250 million for its first AI-focused seed fund, AI Start, and hiring a veteran investor focused exclusively on AI start-ups.

Exclusive research by Venture Capital Journal found a total of 102 women-led firms have raised a combined $5bn since the start of 2022.