VC Firms Tap LP Pools, Warehouse Loans for Speedy AI Cash

When Reflection AI set out to raise $2.5 billion early this year, one of its existing venture backers, B Capital, was eager to invest again in the startup, which has emerged as the most high-profile U.S. maker of open-source AI models. But Reflection’s valuation had more than tripled in just six months, forcing investors to write big checks for a sizable stake. Such a check would have been too big for B Capital’s main venture fund, a $500 million vehicle raised in July. To come up with the cash, the company turned to a different source of capital: a pool of money apart from its regular fund, d