The VC declare their allegiances in the wake of the collapse of SVB

The dust has yet to settle at the largest bank in US history, a collapse that in just 48 hours dismantled the tech startup-focused Silicon Valley Bank. But already a debate is raging in the venture capital community and investors are choosing sides.

On Friday, a group of more than two dozen venture capital firms issued a joint statement supporting Silicon Valley Bank. The statement notably came after — and not before — regulators at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation closed the bank and took control.

And the posthumous show of support continues to grow. By noon Saturday, more than 100 venture capital firms had added their names to the joint statement. There are also a few notable absences from the list, including a16z, Founders Fund, Sequoia Capital, and Y Combinator.

General Catalyst and CEO Hemant Taneja wrote in a LinkedIn post on Friday that several venture capital executives met to discuss the aftermath of the Silicon Valley Bank collapse. A dozen of some of the best-known names in venture capital issued a joint statement expressing their support as well as their disappointment.

The initial group included Accel, AltCap, B Capital, General Catalyst, Elad Gil, Greylock, Khosla Ventures, Kleiner Perkins, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Mayfield Fund, Redpoint Ventures, Ribbit Capital and Upfront Ventures.

The statement reads as follows:

Silicon Valley Bank is a trusted and long-standing partner of the venture capital industry and our founders. For forty years, it has been an important platform that has played a central role in serving the startup community and supporting the innovation economy in the United States.

The events that have unfolded over the past 48 hours have been deeply disappointing and concerning. In the event that SVB were to be purchased and appropriately capitalized, we would strongly support and encourage our holding companies to resume their banking relationship with them.

In particular, the group urges its portfolio companies not to get too comfortable with the financial institution to which they have transferred their assets and to be prepared to transfer their capital to SVB if it is purchased and financed from adequately. Over the past two days, many companies have admitted to withdrawing their assets from SVB and to other banks – traditional and digital – such as JPMorgan Chase and Mercury. And several startups have shared with TechCrunch that they’ve seen an increase in demand and transfers.

While many expressed support for the move, others noted in comments under the LinkedIn post that the effort was too little, too late.

“I wish these same VCs had banned together and kept their deposits, their portco deposits at SVB and ‘kept calm,’ Sanjay Gosalia, product manager at SVB, commented on the LinkedIn post. Not only have they most likely lost a valued banking partner who has served them unconditionally in difficult times, they will be poorly served in new banking relationships.They have fundamentally betrayed their partner and undoubtedly shot themselves in the foot.