Dallas-based Disruptive raises a $10 billion fund to back AI, defense and software companies

Dallas investment firm Disruptive announced the $10 billion Disruptive Flagship Fund on October 27. The firm says it plans to back about 10 growth and late-stage companies, investing up to $1 billion per company, across AI, AI infrastructure, defense technology and enterprise software. Bloomberg reported that the fund roughly doubles Disruptive’s assets under management. Most of the money will go into new funding rounds, with some used to buy shares from existing investors. The firm did not name its limited partners; Bloomberg said its backers include sovereign wealth funds, endowments and universities.

The fund also changes how Disruptive operates. Until now it raised money deal by deal through special purpose vehicles, or SPVs, that pooled backers’ cash for single investments. It will now run one discretionary fund, which Axios described as the firm’s first formal fund. Founder and CEO Alex Davis told Bloomberg that founders had grown frustrated with SPVs, which often don’t reveal who is behind them. “The best companies in the world are basically picking who they want to have invest in them,” he said.

Founded in 2012, Disruptive has backed companies including Groq, Databricks, ElevenLabs, Shield AI, Helsing, Palantir and Reflection AI. The Wall Street Journal reported in early October that the firm had secured $7.5 billion in commitments for the fund. In a letter to investors this year, the firm said it had returned more than $6 billion on about $1.9 billion invested, according to documents seen by Bloomberg. Disruptive declined to comment on its returns.