# How Justin Ernest invested nearly $500M into hot startups without a traditional VC fund

> **Platform:** [SPIDITS AI](https://spidits.com/) — Real-Time AI News & Market Intelligence  
> **Published:** 2026-06-09T23:17:51.000Z  
> **Category:** PRODUCT_LAUNCH  
> **Impact Score:** 180/100  
> **Primary Source:** [TechCrunch Venture](https://techcrunch.com/2026/06/09/how-justin-ernest-invested-nearly-500m-into-hot-startups-without-a-traditional-vc-fund)  
> **Canonical Citation:** [https://spidits.com/timeline/how-justin-ernest-invested-nearly-500m-into-hot-startups-without-a-traditional-vc-fund](https://spidits.com/timeline/how-justin-ernest-invested-nearly-500m-into-hot-startups-without-a-traditional-vc-fund)

## Executive Summary
Instead of spending a year raising a formal venture fund, the Sabertooth VC founder used a captive network of LPs to invest in startups like Anthropic...

## Key Entities & Companies
- **Anthropic**

## Referenced Coverage & Sources
- **[TechCrunch Venture](https://techcrunch.com/2026/06/09/how-justin-ernest-invested-nearly-500m-into-hot-startups-without-a-traditional-vc-fund)**: How Justin Ernest invested nearly $500M into hot startups without a traditional VC fund — _Instead of spending a year raising a formal venture fund, the Sabertooth VC founder used a captive network of LPs to invest in startups like Anthropic..._

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*Synthesized by SPIDITS AI Market Intelligence Desk. Track live AI news, model releases, and funding: [https://spidits.com](https://spidits.com)*