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On Tuesday, AngelList Venture closed its first tranche of institutional funding since spinning out on its own in 2020. The $100 million round was led by Tiger Global and Accomplice, valuing the business at $4.1 billion.

It wasn’t necessarily expected. The round comes just weeks after the organization’s CEO, Avlok Kohli, told me that the company didn’t need venture money, a stance that AngelList, which was founded in 2010 and split into AngelList Venture and AngelList Talent in 2020 -- each with their own CEOs and boards -- has long embraced.

Despite its business of helping other startups raise money, AngelList itself has largely resisted the siren call of venture capital and operated on what others might consider to be a shoestring budget. Indeed, prior to raising this massive new round, the larger company, pre-spin out, had raised $124 million across multiple rounds over the years -- some previously unannounced.

Likely, its views on venture funding stem in part from an earlier experience involving founder Naval Ravikant, who once felt so cheated by the sale of an earlier company he co-founded, Epinions, that he sued its powerful venture backer, Benchmark.

But also, as Kohli explained during our recent chat, AngelList's philosophy has long been that companies that raise too much money can hamper their growth as hiring takes center stage, slowing down other aspects of the business. “If your entire focus is on shipping velocity and shipping great products, growing headcount is actually counter to that,” he said. So what changed, and inspired AngelList to pursue the Tiger stamp of approval? The hedge fund has been planting seeds in the early-stage market, making the investment all the more interesting.

For my full take on this topic, check out my TechCrunch+ column, "AngelList Venture has a new look." In the rest of this newsletter, we’ll talk about an inclusive and disruptive LatAm startup, community beyond capitalism and why SPACs are in the news again. As always, you can support me by sharing this newsletter, following me on Twitter or subscribing to my personal blog.