Norwest Venture Partners

Norwest Venture Partners has been investing in young companies since before Sand Hill Road had a single venture office. Its roots go back to 1961 in Minneapolis. Today it is a large multistage firm with an office on El Camino Real in Menlo Park, a San Francisco office and teams in India and Israel. It writes checks from $1 million into early companies up to $200 million into growth deals.

This is a neutral explainer for founders and readers curious about the firms around Palo Alto. It relies on Norwest's own website and published reporting. For a primer on the industry, see our venture capital guide.

History: from Minneapolis to the Peninsula

Norwest grew out of a venture fund affiliated with Norwest Corporation, the Minneapolis banking company. Published histories date the fund to 1961. Under longtime chief executive Robert Zicarelli the business opened an office in Silicon Valley. In 1994 George Still and Promod Haque took over as managing partners. Haque is still listed among the firm's key people in published profiles.

Norwest Corporation merged with Wells Fargo in 1998. Wells Fargo has been the firm's main limited partner since then. Published reports say Wells Fargo was the sole investor in the firm's $1.2 billion fund announced in 2016 and a major investor in later funds. That backing is unusual in venture capital, where most firms raise from many pension funds and endowments.

The firm's website says it has partnered with more than 700 companies over 65 years, with about 250 currently active. Our history of venture capital on the Peninsula puts that timeline in context. Norwest predates Kleiner Perkins and Sequoia, both founded in 1972.

The office on El Camino Real

Norwest's contact page lists its Menlo Park office at 1300 El Camino Real, Suite 200, Menlo Park, CA 94025. The same building houses Menlo Ventures, which lists Suite 150. Two well known firms sharing one address is a small sign of how the venture map has shifted toward downtown Menlo Park. The firm's other North American office is at 2 South Park Street in San Francisco. Outside the United States it has offices in Mumbai and Tel Aviv.

The address puts Norwest on downtown Menlo Park's stretch of El Camino Real rather than on Sand Hill Road. The Menlo Park Caltrain station is a few blocks away. Shops and cafes on Santa Cruz Avenue are a short walk. Our Menlo Park guide covers the town. The office is private and meetings are by appointment.

Stages and sectors

Norwest describes itself as an investor across stages and sectors. Its website lists these numbers:

• Stages: venture capital and growth equity.
• Overall check size: $1 million to $200 million.
• Venture checks: $1 million to $30 million, with early-stage investments typically totaling $10 million to $15 million over time.
• Markets: global, with offices in North America, Israel and India.
• Capital under management: $15.5 billion.

It groups its investing into three broad areas. Consumer covers e-commerce, edtech, fintech, food, marketplaces, media and property technology. Enterprise covers AI, cloud infrastructure, cybersecurity, data and business services. Healthcare covers biotech, digital health, medical devices and diagnostics. The firm says not to get caught up in the categories.

Norwest also runs support programs for its companies, including Norwest Accelerate, Norwest Kinetic and an operator network it calls the Norwest Operator Collective. Its portfolio success team works on hiring, go-to-market strategy, product and mergers.

Notable investments

Norwest's outcomes page lists IPOs and acquisitions in its portfolio. Highlights include:

The same page lists sales of Mist Systems to Juniper Networks, Glint to LinkedIn and Avere Systems to Microsoft. Published profiles of the firm add Uber, Spotify, Plaid, Casper, Kendra Scott and Vuori to the list of names it has backed. In October 2026 Norwest's blog announced new investments in Circuit Mind, an electronics design company. A post earlier that month covered Vitalize, a healthcare software company.

A firm this size backs many companies at many stages. Some of these were early bets and others were growth investments made after a company was already large. The outcomes list does not say which.

For a founder, that variety cuts both ways. A firm that has seen hundreds of companies grow can offer pattern recognition and introductions across many industries. It also means a seed or Series A company is one of many in a large portfolio, so it is worth asking which partner will work with you and how much time they have.

Funds

Norwest raises large funds every two to three years. Published reports and the firm's announcements give this sequence:

• January 2016: Norwest Venture Partners XIII, $1.2 billion.
• February 2018: NVP XIV, $1.5 billion.
• November 2019: NVP XV, $2 billion.
• December 2021: NVP XVI, $3 billion.
• April 2024: NVP XVII, $3 billion, reported by Fortune.

The firm's website describes its current fund as $3 billion raised in April 2024 and its total capital under management as $15.5 billion. Those figures describe how much money the firm manages, not how its funds have performed.

Norwest in the local ecosystem

Norwest is a reminder that not every major firm near Palo Alto sits on Sand Hill Road. A cluster of investors now works along El Camino Real and Santa Cruz Avenue in downtown Menlo Park, within walking distance of the train. For founders that changes the logistics of a day of meetings. A founder can ride Caltrain to Menlo Park, walk to several offices and reach downtown Palo Alto in a few minutes.

The firm's mix of venture and growth money also matters. A multistage investor can lead an early round and then invest again in later rounds through its growth team. The Sand Hill Road guide covers the older cluster up the hill.

How founders reach Norwest

Norwest's contact page invites founders to reach out and lists office addresses and phone numbers. Its team pages group investors by venture, growth equity and healthcare, which helps founders find the right part of the firm. Practical steps:

1. Decide which team fits: venture, growth equity or healthcare.
2. Look at the companies that team has backed to see whether your business is a match.
3. Use the firm's contact page or ask a founder, co-investor or lawyer who knows Norwest for an introduction.
4. For a growth round, bring revenue, retention and margin data to the first meeting.

Our pitching guide and term sheet basics cover what comes next.

Frequently asked questions