Ballistic Ventures, the cybersecurity-focused venture firm co-founded by former Kleiner Perkins partner Ted Schlein, is seeking to raise $490 million across two new funds, according to SEC filings made this week. The San Francisco firm plans $360 million for its third flagship fund — matching the size of its previous fund raised in 2024 — and another $130 million for a separate vehicle called Ballistic Ventures Fund B. Neither fund had recorded any sales at the time of filing, so the numbers describe an intention, not a closed raise.
Founded in late 2021, Ballistic's founding team includes Schlein, who spent more than two decades at Kleiner Perkins, former AT&T Cybersecurity president Barmak Meftah, and Roger Thornton, co-founder of Fortify Software and AlienVault. Its track record includes two clean exits: Talon Cyber Security, acquired by Palo Alto Networks, and Pangea, bought by CrowdStrike. The portfolio also holds Armadin, GetReal, Nudge Security and Oligo Security. It raised a $300 million debut fund in 2022, a $360 million second flagship two years later, and about $130 million for Fund A, per PitchBook data.
The timing is not accidental. A recent JPMorgan Chase report citing PitchBook found US cybersecurity startups raised $11.5 billion in 2025, the most since 2022. The mix has shifted too: AI-enabled companies accounted for about 72 percent of US cybersecurity venture deals through May this year, against 36 percent in 2019.
Meanwhile the threat side is getting louder. Microsoft's annual Digital Defense Report last month warned that attackers are increasingly using AI for phishing, social engineering and malware development, letting them operate faster and at greater scale even though many underlying techniques are unchanged. That is a convenient double story for investors: AI enlarges the attack surface and supplies the product that defends it.
One cybersecurity investor at a rival firm told TechCrunch that Ballistic's Kleiner Perkins lineage sets it apart, while its strategy resembles that of Forgepoint Capital and Ten Eleven Ventures. Ballistic declined to comment on the fundraising.
One distinction is worth keeping while reading the filing: an SEC notice proves intent, not demand. Whether the $490 million materialises depends on limited partners over the coming months — and those LPs are currently pickier than in the years when cybersecurity was treated as venture capital's safe harbour.
