Quarterly report · Q3 2026

State of the emerging manager

Who is raising new venture funds, how large, where, and at which fund number, plus what limited partners have published about returns. One report for GPs raising a fund and LPs backing emerging managers.

Data through 30 September 2026Open accessPublished every quarter

519Venture fund filingsUp 55% on Q3 2025, when there were 335.
112Fund I filingsThe most in any quarter since Q1 2022.
482Firms filingDistinct firms with at least one venture fund filing in the quarter.
$6.1MMedian amount soldAcross the 396 filings that report a sold amount. Q3 2025: $6.0M.

US venture fund filings on SEC Form D, 1 July to 30 September 2026. Late filings will lift the Q3 counts slightly.

Filed evidence

Who is raising, and how much

Every venture fund that filed an SEC Form D, counted by filing date. For GPs, this is the field you are raising into. Open any figure to download it, or see the numbers behind it.

Bar chart of venture fund filings per quarter, Q1 2022 to Q3 2026, reaching 519 in Q3 2026

Figure 1. Venture fund filings per quarter. Q4 2026 is still open and not shown. Source: SEC Form D, by filing date.

Figure, PNG
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QuarterVenture fund filings
Q1 22461
Q2 22330
Q3 22232
Q4 22205
Q1 23190
Q2 23194
Q3 23170
Q4 23175
Q1 24193
Q2 24231
Q3 24258
Q4 24218
Q1 25270
Q2 25257
Q3 25335
Q4 25358
Q1 26414
Q2 26447
Q3 26519
Chart of Q3 2026 venture fund filings by stated fund number

Figure 2. Q3 2026 filings by stated fund number. 191 of the 519 filings state none. Source: SEC Form D, filed 1 July to 30 September 2026.

Figure, PNG
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Stated fund numberFilings
Fund I112
Fund II80
Fund III42
Fund IV or later94
No fund number stated191
Bar chart of median amount sold at filing by quarter, from $9.3 million in Q1 2022 to $6.1 million in Q3 2026

Figure 3. Median amount sold at filing, $ millions. Filings reporting more than zero sold; Q3 2026 is 396 of 519. Amendments excluded. Source: SEC Form D.

Figure, PNG
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QuarterMedian amount sold, $M
Q1 229.3
Q2 227.5
Q3 226.3
Q4 226.8
Q1 235.5
Q2 237.4
Q3 234.9
Q4 235.6
Q1 244.9
Q2 245.6
Q3 244.5
Q4 245.5
Q1 255.7
Q2 256.0
Q3 256.0
Q4 255.1
Q1 265.5
Q2 266.3
Q3 266.1
Chart of venture fund filings by filer state, Q3 2026 against Q3 2025

Figure 4. Venture fund filings by the state on the filer's address, top five states. Delaware often reflects a registered address, not where the team sits. Source: SEC Form D.

Figure, PNG
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StateQ3 2026Q3 2025
California12572
Delaware10987
New York6449
Florida3813
Texas2712
Stated by firms

What emerging managers say about themselves

This tier is what each firm says on its own website. It tells you what a firm says, not what it has done, and it is never added to the filed figures above.

Bar chart of the sectors emerging managers name on their own sites, led by enterprise at 31 percent

Figure 5. Share of the 1,313 emerging firms that name a sector. Firms can name more than one. Source: firm websites.

Figure, PNG
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Sector namedShare of firms
Enterprise31%
Infrastructure27%
Health26%
Hardware23%
Security21%
Fintech18%
Consumer18%
Bio11%
Crypto11%
Climate9%
Chart of how many emerging firms state a portfolio, sector, stage or region on their own site

Figure 6. What the 5,405 emerging venture firms with a filing state on their own site. Source: firm websites.

Figure, PNG
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Item statedShare of firmsFirms
Publish a portfolio37%1,996
Name a sector24%1,313
Name a stage19%1,040
Name a region6%314
Published by limited partners

The record behind venture funds

Every performance figure here comes from a limited partner's own published report. No manager-reported return enters the numbers. These cover all venture funds, not emerging managers only.

Bar chart of median net multiple by vintage band, peaking at 2.51x for 2013 to 2015

Figure 7. Median net multiple by vintage band. Grey bars are vintages still too young to read. Source: Colibrí Fund Benchmark, edition 2026Q3, LP-published net multiples.

Figure, PNG
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Vintage bandMedian net multipleFunds (n)
1998-001.13x28
2001-031.30x15
2004-061.40x47
2007-091.68x34
2010-122.20x26
2013-152.51x42
2016-181.76x68
2019-211.33x66
2022-241.29x45
Bar chart of median distributions to paid-in capital by vintage band

Figure 8. Median distributions to paid-in capital (DPI) by vintage band. Vintages from 2019 on sit at 0.00x. Source: Colibrí Fund Benchmark, edition 2026Q3, LP-published DPI.

Figure, PNG
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Vintage bandMedian DPIFunds (n)
2004-061.32x43
2007-091.37x29
2010-121.67x25
2013-151.00x40
2016-180.31x67
2019-210.00x51
2022-240.00x32
Bar chart of regions emerging managers name on their own sites, led by Europe, India and Latin America

Figure 9. Share of the 314 emerging firms that name a region or country. Firms can name more than one. Only 314 of 5,405 firms name a region. Source: firm websites.

Figure, PNG
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Region or country namedShare of firms
Europe25%
India24%
Latin America21%
Canada15%
Africa13%
Israel12%
United Kingdom11%
North America8%
Southeast Asia7%
Middle East6%
Filed and stated, labelled

The Emerging Manager Class of 2026

Send a correction or add your firm

Market map of the Emerging Manager Class of 2026: 82 venture firms grouped by the sectors each says it invests in

Figure 10. The Emerging Manager Class of 2026, the whole map. Source: SEC Form D; firm websites (stated tier). Full list at colibri.institute/database.

Full map, PNG
How to read it

Two kinds of evidence, always labelled

Filed

What a firm told a regulator, chiefly SEC Form D, plus returns that limited partners publish themselves.

Stated

What a firm says on its own website. It tells you what a firm says, not what it has done.

Never blended

No licensed vendor data. Performance comes only from limited partners' own reports. Filed and stated figures are never added together.