Adit Singh, the early investor who helped bring Cerebras into the world at Foundation Capital, has found a new home at Mayfield. On Thursday, Singh said he has joined the 57-year-old venture firm as an infrastructure partner, where he will focus on hardware, infrastructure software, cybersecurity, and physical AI.
From an early Cerebras bet to a new role at Mayfield
Singh was a partner at Foundation Capital when he helped source and co-lead the first funding round into Cerebras, which was then a little-known chip startup. That early backing later proved notable: by the time Cerebras went public in its blockbuster IPO in May, Foundation Capital held a roughly 7% stake, making it the company’s third-largest shareholder.
Cerebras now trades at a valuation of nearly $50 billion, underscoring how much the chipmaker’s fortunes have changed since its earliest fundraising days. Singh’s involvement in that seed-stage moment is part of why his move to Mayfield carries attention in venture circles. He has spent years at the intersection of semiconductors, infrastructure and early-stage investing.
Why Mayfield appealed to Singh
Singh said Mayfield’s strength in semiconductors was a major reason he decided to join. He pointed to the firm’s portfolio as one of the strongest in the market, specifically citing investments in Upscale AI, which was recently valued at $2 billion, and Lumilens, which just raised $700 million at a $5.5 billion valuation.
“If you look at Mayfield’s semiconductor portfolio, it’s probably the best in the market right now,” Singh told TechCrunch.
That view matches the role he expects to play. At Mayfield, Singh will invest across hardware and the broader infrastructure stack, areas that increasingly overlap as AI systems become more compute-intensive and specialized. He also said his own technical background makes him comfortable looking at companies from the software layer down to the chip design level.
“I’m a chip designer by training,” Singh said. “My secret sauce is being able to look at any workload and see how it works from the application all the way down to the transistor.”
A technical investor with a long semiconductor lens
Singh said his electrical engineering background helped him see Cerebras’s potential 10 years ago, before the startup became one of the most closely watched names in AI hardware. His comments suggest that Mayfield is not just adding another generalist investor, but someone with a deeply technical point of view on infrastructure businesses.
That perspective matters in a market where hardware, software and AI workloads are increasingly intertwined. Companies building chips or infrastructure software now often need investors who can understand performance tradeoffs, manufacturing constraints, product-market fit and systems architecture at the same time.
Singh’s career path reflects that blend of technical and investment experience. After his time at Foundation Capital, he did not remain there long-term. In 2017, he co-founded Neotribe Ventures, and after four years leading the firm, he joined early-stage firm Cota Capital. His move to Mayfield adds another chapter to a career that has moved between startup financing, firm building and infrastructure-focused investing.
Mayfield’s check size is part of the draw
Singh said he was also drawn to Mayfield because of how the venture market has changed, especially at seed stage. He noted that the size of infrastructure deals has ballooned in recent years, and smaller funds can get squeezed out of the biggest rounds.
That dynamic has made capital availability and firm scale more important than before. With $3 billion in assets under management, Mayfield can write seed checks of up to $20 million, giving it room to participate in larger early-stage deals that would be difficult for many smaller venture firms to absorb.
For infrastructure startups, that kind of check size can be a meaningful advantage. Hardware companies, chip startups and infrastructure software businesses often face longer development cycles and heavier capital needs than conventional software startups. Investors who can support them through multiple technical milestones may be better positioned to stay involved as those companies scale.
A long relationship with Mayfield leadership
Mayfield managing partner Navin Chaddha said Singh was not a stranger to the firm. The two have known each other for 15 years and have already sat on three startup boards together, including Upscale AI and the unicorn AI startup Velaura AI.
Even with that history, Chaddha said it still took time to bring Singh onboard.
“We have been talking for a long time, and this time stars aligned,” Chaddha said.
The remark points to a familiar pattern in venture capital, where leadership hires often depend as much on timing and firm strategy as on reputation alone. In Singh’s case, the combination of his technical background, prior semiconductor wins and experience across several firms appears to have fit Mayfield’s current focus on infrastructure investing.
What Singh’s move says about the market
Singh’s move comes at a moment when AI infrastructure is drawing intense investor attention. Demand for chips, compute capacity, security and specialized software has pushed firms to look more closely at the entire stack supporting modern AI systems. Investors with both technical credibility and large enough funds to compete in early rounds are increasingly valuable.
Mayfield appears to be leaning into that trend by deepening its infrastructure bench. Singh’s arrival gives the firm another investor with direct experience in semiconductors and a track record of spotting technical inflection points early. His background may be especially relevant as hardware and physical AI companies become more central to venture portfolios.
For Singh, the move also seems to mark a return to the kind of investing he has done before, but with a platform that can support larger seed-stage commitments. For Mayfield, it is a bet that technical specialization still matters, even as early-stage deals get bigger and competition for them grows fiercer.
Why this hire stands out
- Singh helped source and co-lead Cerebras’s first funding round at Foundation Capital.
- Foundation Capital later held a roughly 7% stake in Cerebras, which became the third-largest shareholder by the time of its May IPO.
- Cerebras now trades at a valuation of nearly $50 billion.
- At Mayfield, Singh will focus on hardware, infrastructure software, cybersecurity and physical AI.
- Mayfield’s $3 billion in AUM allows it to write seed checks of up to $20 million.
Singh’s background suggests Mayfield is hiring for more than name recognition. It is bringing in an investor with a chip designer’s instincts, a history of early infrastructure bets, and a clear view of how AI-era technical stacks are evolving.
Source: Original report
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Last Modified: August 21, 2026 at 1:52 am
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