"When Arvind Purushotham decided to leave the Sand Hill stalwart Menlo Ventures in 2010 to start a new VC arm for Citibank, he joked with friends that he was going from an operation with 25 people to one with four more zeroes in its workforce. 15 years-and more than 200 investments and 30 exits-later, he has built one of the more formidable Wall Street corporate venture outfits at a moment when frontier technology like AI and blockchain threaten to upend financial services."
"While operations like Citi Ventures still have a mandate to generate returns through IPOs and M&A, they are also tasked with investing in startups that could offer some strategic support to the parent company. Citi didn't share the assets under management for the fund, nor how much it invests every year, but did confirm the capital is from the bank's balance sheet."
Arvind Purushotham left Menlo Ventures in 2010 to create a VC arm for Citibank, noting a dramatic increase in workforce scale. Over 15 years he led more than 200 investments and 30 exits, building a major Wall Street corporate venture operation during a period of frontier technologies such as AI and blockchain reshaping financial services. Citi Ventures made 26 investments this year. The fund uses the bank's balance sheet capital and is based in Palo Alto, recruiting Silicon Valley venture experience. The group balances the twin goals of financial returns and strategic support for Citi, accepting inevitable misalignments.
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