Bessemer Venture Partners Shifts to Registered Adviser Amid Venture Slowdown

In 2021 Bessemer Venture Partners participated in 133 funding rounds totaling over $11 billion, reflecting the peak of the venture market. By the first half of 2022 the market had cooled, round sizes shrank and the firm’s average deal value fell to just over $3 billion despite maintaining a similar deal count.

To overcome these constraints, Bessemer filed with the SEC to relinquish its standard VC status and become a registered investment adviser, earmarked $250 million of its new fund for crypto via BessemerDAO, thereby gaining permission to invest in public equities, digital assets and secondary shares while keeping assets under management above $19 billion.

Ability to allocate >20% of capital to public stocks, crypto, and secondary shares, raising AUM to over $19 billion

Venture market downturn after 2021 reduced deal size and availability.

Increased competition from hedge‑fund investors such as Tiger Global pressured the traditional VC model.

Regulatory limits on VC firms prevented direct exposure to crypto and public‑stock opportunities that the firm wanted to pursue.

Adapting a firm’s legal structure to market shifts can unlock new asset classes and sustain long‑term growth

Following the status change, Bessemer continued to announce roughly the same number of deals per half‑year, increased its crypto allocations, and maintained an AUM exceeding $19 billion. The firm’s BessemerDAO initiative sourced additional crypto investments, illustrating the strategic benefit of the structural shift.