# Tenaya Capital

Tenaya Capital is a Private Equity based in Palo Alto, United States.

## Overview

- **Organization type:** Private Equity
- **Headquarters:** Palo Alto, United States
- **Region:** North America
- **Address:** Palo Alto, CA, United States
- **Founded:** 2008
- **Assets under management:** $800M - $1.5B (Altss estimate)
- **Website:** www.tenayacapital.com
- **LinkedIn:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/tenaya-capital
- **Wikidata:** Q7699523

## Regulatory record

- **CRD number:** 162804
- **SEC file number:** 802-119265
- **Registration status:** Registered
- **Reports private funds:** Yes
- **IAPD record:** https://adviserinfo.sec.gov/firm/summary/162804

## About

Tenaya Capital is an exempt reporting adviser in Palo Alto, CA. It focuses on growth equity investments. The firm invests in technology and healthcare companies.

## Sectors

- Enterprise Software
- AI/ML
- Cybersecurity
- Cloud Infrastructure
- Digital Health
- FinTech

## Offices

- Boston, MA

## People

- Brian Melton — General Partner
- Stewart Gollmer — General Partner
- Ben Boyer — General Partner
- Tom Banahan — General Partner

## Questions

### Who runs investment decisions at Tenaya Capital?

The four General Partners — Brian Melton, Stewart Gollmer, Ben Boyer, and Tom Banahan — drive investment decisions as a team. Brian Melton and Ben Boyer serve as co-Managing Directors as of 2024. The group has worked together since at least 2008, when they spun the firm out of Lehman Brothers, making this one of the more stable GP benches in venture.

### How did Tenaya Capital originate, and how does that shape its underwriting?

Tenaya Capital began as Lehman Brothers Venture Partners, the bank's in-house venture arm. When Lehman collapsed in 2008, the GP team bought the portfolio and rebranded. That bank-balance-sheet origin means the firm's underwriting culture emphasizes capital preservation and structured deal terms more than the typical venture partnership — a discipline shaped by reporting to a bank investment committee rather than to limited partners alone.

### What is Tenaya Capital's typical check size and stage focus?

Tenaya writes initial checks of $5 million to $30 million into Series B through late-stage venture rounds, with reserves for follow-ons. The firm concentrates on companies with proven product-market fit and meaningful revenue, stepping in before the pre-IPO crossover funds arrive. Tenaya leads or co-leads roughly half its rounds, according to its own communications.

### Which sectors does Tenaya Capital explicitly avoid?

Tenaya does not invest in consumer internet, hardware-heavy startups, or life sciences. The firm has maintained a focused enterprise technology mandate since its Lehman days, staying away from sectors where its partners lack operational or underwriting depth. Clean energy and semiconductors are also absent from its portfolio.

### How does Tenaya Capital source its deal flow?

Tenaya's deal pipeline relies heavily on the network effects of its long-tenured partnership. Many opportunities come through relationships with earlier-stage VCs it has co-invested alongside, as well as from repeat founders who worked with the team during the Lehman or early Fund I era. The Boston office extends this reach into East Coast enterprise and infrastructure circles that Silicon Valley–only firms miss.

## Related profiles

- [Tenami Capital](https://altss.com/profile/tenami-capital)
- [Tenco Capital Holdings](https://altss.com/profile/tenco-capital-holdings)

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Last updated: 2026-08-14T12:30:00.000Z

Canonical page: https://altss.com/profile/tenaya-capital

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