The Palo Alto Networks chief is guiding his daughter as she aims to raise more than $100 million for early-stage AI bets
Some parents help their kids move apartments. Nikesh Arora is helping his daughter raise a venture fund.
The CEO and chairman of Palo Alto Networks is advising Ayesha Arora-Hughes as she launches an early-stage venture capital fund. She is aiming to raise more than $100 million, with AI as the main focus. The Information reported the news on October 20, 2026.
The fund is designed to back companies at the earliest stages of their lives. Her target is over $100 million . No limited partner commitments or specific portfolio companies have been disclosed so far.
Arora-Hughes graduated from Northeastern University in 2021. She has worked at Brex and Airbnb. She also spent time at S32, the venture firm, where she served as a Partner or Venture Partner. Her work there included early-stage investing in AI and cybersecurity.
Through her family office, she has invested in Anthropic , Legora and Monzo.
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Nikesh Arora has run Palo Alto Networks since 2018, serving as both CEO and chairman. He is now acting as an adviser to his daughter’s new fund.
He has also been active as a personal investor in AI and technology during 2026.
Arora-Hughes has already been operating in that model. Her family office stakes in companies like Anthropic show she has been writing checks well before putting her name on a formal fund.
Moving from a family office to a fund with outside LPs is a meaningful step up. A family office invests its own money and answers mostly to itself. A venture fund invests other people’s money and answers to them, usually with quarterly reports and a lot of follow-up questions.