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Ballistic Ventures Seeks $490 Million Across Two New Cybersecurity Funds

The San Francisco venture firm co-founded by Ted Schlein has filed to raise $360 million for its third flagship fund and $130 million for a separate vehicle, betting on continued investor appetite for security startups as AI reshapes the threat landscape.

Ballistic Ventures filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission this week for a third flagship fund sized at $360 million, the same target as the vehicle it closed in 2024. A second, separate pool named Ballistic Ventures Fund B is being marketed at $130 million, bringing the total sought to $490 million.

Neither fund had recorded any sales at the time of the filing, according to the regulatory document.

The firm was founded in late 2021 and is based in San Francisco. Its founding team includes Schlein, a former Kleiner Perkins partner, along with Barmak Meftah, previously president of AT&T Cybersecurity, and Roger Thornton, who co-founded Fortify Software and AlienVault.

Ballistic's portfolio has produced exits including Talon Cyber Security, acquired by Palo Alto Networks, and Pangea, bought by CrowdStrike. It has also backed startups such as Armadin, GetReal, Nudge Security and Oligo Security.

The fundraising push comes as wider adoption of artificial intelligence heightens concern about more sophisticated cyberattacks. The spread of AI agents has simultaneously opened new opportunities for security startups and for the venture firms that finance them.