Battery Ventures partner Chelsea Stoner explains why she looks for startups that can't be reached by a direct flight as her firm announces a new $2B fund

• Battery Ventures, a legacy tech VC firm, announced its latest $2 billion fund, the largest amount it's ever raised.
• The firm's new fund is split into main and side funds but will operate jointly for larger growth investments.
• General Partner Chelsea Stoner told Business Insider that she will scout for deals wherever her research takes her and that companies located in places that require a connecting flight are often the best deals.
• As growth investing gets increasingly competitive, Stoner hopes the new influx of cash will help Battery outlast other investors and back more companies that have been overlooked.
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These days, a VC saying they are "contrarian" is about as contrarian as looking for profitability over growth. Lucky for Battery Ventures, that's working in its favor.

The notable tech VC firm just announced its latest $2 billion joint fund, the largest amount it has raised in its 37-year history. The new funds are split into a $1.2 billion main fund and a $800 million side fund, but will operate jointly for larger growth investments.

"The plan is to have more companies in this fund versus the last one," general partner Chelsea Stoner told Business Insider. "It gives us more time to invest in more companies, so really it's just more of the same."

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That last fund, another record-breaker at $1.2 billion in 2018, was good to Stoner, who backed tax software startup Alvara before its 2018 IPO. But the industry is an entirely different beast this time around, she said, as she prepares to deploy even more growth funding to companies across the country.

"Certainly there is more capital out there, no question. Valuations have gone up; that's not debatable, and therefore round sizes have gotten bigger," Stoner said. "I do think, though, we are at a place where, the way we talk about growth and investing has remained the same as when I started 14 years ago, and that's through disciplined growth."

That wasn't the case for some of Battery's biggest competitors, namely SoftBank's massive Vision Fund. The Japanese fund used its unwieldy $100 billion fund to buy market share and scare off competitors, Stoner said, effectively burning cash to grow. That was never Battery's motivation, she explained, and she's eager to see things go back to normal now that SoftBank has weathered several implosions at the hands of its "growth at all costs" philosophy.

"A couple years ago when SoftBank was doing their thing, there was no attention on disciplined growth," Stoner said. "They just wanted to throw a bunch of money at it and watch it grow. We never bought into that, and the market is coming back to that view as well."

So where are these other kinds of unicorns, the startups that emphasize efficiency and profitability over growth, that Stoner wants? According to her, they're not hiding out in Silicon Valley.

"I'm trying to be a bit contrarian, if you will, in looking at different things that others aren't aware of or excited by," Stoner said. "A lot of folks like to sleep in their bed at night and invest in the Valley. Sometimes I wish I could do that more, but most times I'm on a plane."

Although Battery has invested across the globe through its two international offices, the biggest indicator of a successful company is whether Stoner can make her connecting flight in the United States

"If you have to change planes its usually a good deal because no one else is taking a two-hopper! It's a full day just to get there," Stoner said.