Pear, now nearly 10 years old and with numerous hits, just closed its biggest fund by far

Pear, a Palo Alto, Ca.-based venture firm that we’ve been tracking since its outset in 2012, looks to be raising a fourth fund that’s targeting $410 million in capital commitments, shows a new SEC filing.It would be a big step up from Pear’s first three funds, which closed progressively with $50 million in 2013, $75 million in 2016, and $160 million in capital commitments in 2019, including from a longtime limited partner, the University of Chicago.Reached for comment, cofounder Pejman Nozad emailed back, “I can’t comment!”Nozad and cofounder Mar Hershenson have long been first-stop for prominent early-stage investors that are looking to fund nascent teams, given the firm has been among the earliest backers in a notable number of companies that have gone to raise ever-bigger rounds and higher valuations, including the now publicly traded companies DoorDash and Guardant Health.Other startups to attract capital from Pear before nearly any other firm was aware of their existence include the deep-linking startup Branch, which closed on $300 million in funding in February at a $4 billion valuation; Gusto, valued at $9.5 billion last summer when it raised $175 million in funding; and Aurora Solar, a firm that provides software services for the solar industry and was valued at $4 billion in February when it closed a $200 million round.Like other firms, Pear is likely to see the valuations of its still-private portfolio companies slide downward — possibly by a lot — depending on how long this correction lasts.Hershenson, who joined TechCrunch for a mobility-focused event this week, noted on stage that startups are in for a bumpy ride, given how frothy the market had grown.Asked if the startup party is over, Hershenson answered: “Maybe for a little while it’s over .