# Sunil Dhaliwal
Sunil Dhaliwal is a venture capitalist and the founder and General Partner of Amplify Partners, a firm that invests at the earliest stages in deeply technical companies across infrastructure, developer tools, data, AI, and the intersection of technology and biology.[1](https://postmoneypodcast.substack.com/p/is-60-of-venture-capital-really-going) He is best known for early investments in Datadog and Fastly, both of which went public in 2019,[2](https://www.forbes.com/profile/sunil-dhaliwal/) and he has appeared on the Forbes Midas List, first in 2011 at Battery Ventures and again on the Midas Seed List from 2020 to 2022, with a best rank of 21.[2](https://www.forbes.com/profile/sunil-dhaliwal/) As of a 2026 interview, Amplify managed approximately $2.5 billion in assets.[1](https://postmoneypodcast.substack.com/p/is-60-of-venture-capital-really-going)
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Current role | Founder and General Partner, Amplify Partners[3](http://www.amplifypartners.com/team/sunil-dhaliwal) |
| Prior firm | Battery Ventures, a 14-year tenure[4](https://ventureunlocked.substack.com/p/sunil-dhaliwal-from-amplify-partners) |
| Education | B.S., Georgetown University[3](http://www.amplifypartners.com/team/sunil-dhaliwal) |
| Best-known investments | Datadog (NASDAQ: DDOG, IPO 2019); Fastly (NYSE: FSLY, IPO 2019)[3](http://www.amplifypartners.com/team/sunil-dhaliwal) • [2](https://www.forbes.com/profile/sunil-dhaliwal/) |
| Midas recognition | Midas List 2011; Midas Seed List 2020–2022, best rank 21[2](https://www.forbes.com/profile/sunil-dhaliwal/) |
| Amplify flagship funds | Fund III $200M; Fund IV $275M; Fund V $400M[5](https://www.amplifypartners.com/authors/sunil-dhaliwal) |
| Firm assets (2026) | Approximately $2.5 billion[1](https://postmoneypodcast.substack.com/p/is-60-of-venture-capital-really-going) |
## Education and early career
Dhaliwal holds a B.S. from [Georgetown University](https://www.edgepedia.org/georgetown-university).[3](http://www.amplifypartners.com/team/sunil-dhaliwal) A directory profile adds that he studied Finance and International Business, graduated in 1996, and went into technology banking at Alex. Brown & Sons before joining Battery Ventures; these early-career details come from a single weak source and are not confirmed by primary material.[7](https://yespress.io/sunil-dhaliwal)
At Battery Ventures he invested in early-stage IT infrastructure companies for fourteen years.[4](https://ventureunlocked.substack.com/p/sunil-dhaliwal-from-amplify-partners) His investment record includes Netezza and Splunk, both later public companies, and acquired companies CipherTrust and @stake (bought by Symantec).[3](http://www.amplifypartners.com/team/sunil-dhaliwal) In 2011 he made his first Midas List appearance while at Battery.[2](https://www.forbes.com/profile/sunil-dhaliwal/) He has said that those fourteen years were critical to developing his philosophy of how best to support founders.[3](http://www.amplifypartners.com/team/sunil-dhaliwal)
## Founding Amplify Partners
Dhaliwal founded [Amplify Partners](https://www.edgepedia.org/amplify-partners) in 2012.[2](https://www.forbes.com/profile/sunil-dhaliwal/) Heavybit's Generationship podcast describes it as one of the first solo-GP, deeply technical sector-focused VC firms, and says he designed it as a durable platform rather than a one-off vehicle.[6](https://www.heavybit.com/library/podcasts/generationship/ep-55-faster-hypothesis-disproving-with-sunil-dhaliwal) The thesis he describes on his firm's page rests on focus, domain expertise, and a willingness to take risk in early-stage investing.[3](http://www.amplifypartners.com/team/sunil-dhaliwal) The firm targeted a gap in capital for technical founders, a gap its Fund III announcement framed as doubling down on supporting "radically technical" founders.[5](https://www.amplifypartners.com/authors/sunil-dhaliwal)
The firm's fund sizes, per its own announcements: Fund III at $200 million; Fund IV at $275 million alongside a $100 million Select Fund raised in 2020 as dedicated expansion capital for portfolio companies; and Fund V, a $400 million flagship early-stage fund, alongside Amplify Select V at $300 million.[5](https://www.amplifypartners.com/authors/sunil-dhaliwal) The directory source YesPress states the original Fund I was $40 million.[7](https://yespress.io/sunil-dhaliwal)
## Notable investments and exits
The deals that anchor Dhaliwal's reputation are Datadog and Fastly, both Amplify-era investments that went public in 2019.[2](https://www.forbes.com/profile/sunil-dhaliwal/) YesPress states Datadog's IPO valued the company at $7.8 billion, a figure no stronger source confirms.[7](https://yespress.io/sunil-dhaliwal)
Acquired companies on his record include Backtrace (Sauce Labs), BlueData (HPE), Cask (Google), Chef (Progress Software), CipherTrust (Secure [Computing](https://www.edgepedia.org/computing)), Conjur (CyberArk), Fermyon (Akamai), Netezza, Splunk, @stake (Symantec), and Suplari (Microsoft).[3](http://www.amplifypartners.com/team/sunil-dhaliwal) [Covariant](https://www.edgepedia.org/covariant), a robotics company he backed, ended with a technology license to [Amazon](https://www.edgepedia.org/amazon-company) rather than a conventional acquisition.[3](http://www.amplifypartners.com/team/sunil-dhaliwal)
Still-private companies named for him include Hex, mabl, Replicated, Picnic Health, and Covariant.[2](https://www.forbes.com/profile/sunil-dhaliwal/) A 2026 podcast introduction lists Amplify's founding investments as Datadog, Fastly, Temporal, Chainguard, Modal, Runway, Hightouch, Luma, and Hex.[1](https://postmoneypodcast.substack.com/p/is-60-of-venture-capital-really-going)
## By the numbers
- Midas List 2011 (Battery Ventures era); Midas Seed List 2020, 2021, and 2022, best rank 21.[2](https://www.forbes.com/profile/sunil-dhaliwal/)
- Fund I: $40 million per YesPress (unverified).[7](https://yespress.io/sunil-dhaliwal)
- Fund III: $200 million; Fund IV: $275 million; Select Fund (2020): $100 million; Fund V: $400 million; Select V: $300 million.[5](https://www.amplifypartners.com/authors/sunil-dhaliwal)
- AUM: over $750 million at the time of the Venture Unlocked interview;[4](https://ventureunlocked.substack.com/p/sunil-dhaliwal-from-amplify-partners) approximately $2.5 billion as of 2026.[1](https://postmoneypodcast.substack.com/p/is-60-of-venture-capital-really-going)
## Public positions and writing
Dhaliwal argues that headline venture statistics have been distorted by late-stage AI rounds: in a 2026 Post Money Podcast appearance he contended that the 60% of US venture capital dollars that went to just two companies in the first half of 2026 should largely not be counted as traditional venture capital.[1](https://postmoneypodcast.substack.com/p/is-60-of-venture-capital-really-going) He has appeared on Heavybit's Generationship podcast, discussing how quickly technical founders can disprove hypotheses, and on Venture Unlocked, discussing how he finds overlooked investment opportunities.[6](https://www.heavybit.com/library/podcasts/generationship/ep-55-faster-hypothesis-disproving-with-sunil-dhaliwal) • [4](https://ventureunlocked.substack.com/p/sunil-dhaliwal-from-amplify-partners) Earlier recognition includes the AlwaysOn Top 100 VCs and [Business Insider](https://www.edgepedia.org/business-insider)'s list of the 15 Most Powerful Venture Capitalists on the East Coast.[4](https://ventureunlocked.substack.com/p/sunil-dhaliwal-from-amplify-partners)
## Recent developments
The firm's own pages record the Fund V and Select V raises ($400 million and $300 million) as its most recent confirmed funds.[5](https://www.amplifypartners.com/authors/sunil-dhaliwal) By 2026 Amplify reported roughly $2.5 billion in assets under management and had launched its first dedicated fund focused on the intersection of AI and Life Sciences.[1](https://postmoneypodcast.substack.com/p/is-60-of-venture-capital-really-going) YesPress describes a 2025 raise of $900 million across a $400 million Fund VI, a $300 million Fund VI Select, and a $200 million Amplify Bio I, which it calls the firm's largest raise, 22 times the original fund; these names, sizes, and dates appear only in that directory and are not confirmed by the firm's pages, so they should be treated as unverified.[7](https://yespress.io/sunil-dhaliwal)
## References
1. [Is 60% of Venture Capital Really Going To Just Two AI Companies? | Sunil Dhaliwal (Post Money Podcast)](https://postmoneypodcast.substack.com/p/is-60-of-venture-capital-really-going)
2. [Sunil Dhaliwal — Forbes Midas List profile](https://www.forbes.com/profile/sunil-dhaliwal/)
3. [Sunil Dhaliwal | General Partner | Amplify Partners](http://www.amplifypartners.com/team/sunil-dhaliwal)
4. [Sunil Dhaliwal from Amplify Partners on finding overlooked investment opportunities (Venture Unlocked)](https://ventureunlocked.substack.com/p/sunil-dhaliwal-from-amplify-partners)
5. [Sunil Dhaliwal — Amplify Partners](https://www.amplifypartners.com/authors/sunil-dhaliwal)
6. [Generationship Ep. #55, Faster Hypothesis Disproving with Sunil Dhaliwal | Heavybit](https://www.heavybit.com/library/podcasts/generationship/ep-55-faster-hypothesis-disproving-with-sunil-dhaliwal)
7. [Sunil Dhaliwal - Founder & General Partner, Amplify Partners (YesPress)](https://yespress.io/sunil-dhaliwal)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › Economics and business › Founders, operators, and investors › Venture and growth investors › Enterprise software and infrastructure investors › Enterprise software and SaaS investors › Early-stage enterprise software investors*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Edited: Oct 11, 2026; Oct 15, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license