OpenAI Startup Fund: Investing in the Future of AI
Since its inception in 2021, the OpenAI Startup Fund has amassed a substantial $175 million for its primary fund, supplemented by an additional $114 million through five special purpose vehicles designed for targeted investment opportunities. Distinct from many large tech corporations, OpenAI clarifies that it does not allocate its own financial resources to fund these startup ventures. Instead, the OpenAI Startup Fund operates with capital raised from external investors, including major backer Microsoft and other OpenAI partners, as stated on the fund’s official website.
Managed by a dedicated team, the OpenAI Startup Fund has invested in over a dozen startups, according to data compiled by PitchBook, Crunchbase, and research conducted by TechCrunch. The following companies have publicly acknowledged receiving investments from the fund:
Companies Invested in by the OpenAI Startup Fund:
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1X: This Norwegian company specializing in humanoid robots secured $23.5 million in early 2023, in a deal led partially by the OpenAI Startup Fund and Tiger Global. However, the fund was not listed as a participant when the company announced its $100 million Series B round in January.
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Ambience Healthcare: This startup, which focuses on AI-driven medical note-taking, publicized a $70 million Series B round in February 2024, which was co-led by OpenAI’s fund and Kleiner Perkins. Ambience is among several companies, including Abridge, Nabla, and Suki, working on AI medical scribes.
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Anysphere (aka Cursor): In October 2023, OpenAI’s fund spearheaded the $8 million seed round into Anysphere, the creators of Cursor, an AI-powered coding assistant. OpenAI has not been an investor in the company’s subsequent rounds.
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Chai Discovery: Developing an open-source AI foundational model for drug discovery; this startup succeeded in raising a $30 million seed round last September, headed by Thrive Capital and OpenAI’s fund. The valuation of Chai Discovery, at the time six months old, reached $150 million.
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Class Companion: This educational technology startup raised a $4 million seed round in 2023 from the OpenAI Startup Fund, plus a collection of angel investors. It aims to provide teachers with rapid, personalized feedback for their students.
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Descript: The collaborative platform for audio and video editing raised $50 million via a Series C round, which was led by OpenAI’s fund, soon after the introduction of ChatGPT in late 2022. The round also included investments from Andreessen Horowitz, Redpoint Ventures, Spark Capital, and former Y Combinator partner Daniel Gross. Descript has not disclosed any further capital raises following this Series C round.
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Figure AI: Figure AI, engaged in AI robotics, collected $675 million in a Series B round during February 2024, with significant investment from Nvidia, OpenAI’s fund, Microsoft, and others. This round set the company’s valuation at $2.6 billion. There are reports that Figure AI is planning a $1.5 billion funding round, projecting a valuation as high as $39.5 billion.
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Ghost Autonomy: Specializing in autonomous driving software, this company raised a $55 million Series E in April 2023, with a $5 million investment from OpenAI’s fund, according to PitchBook data. Despite the investment, the company ceased operations a year later.
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Harvey AI: This legal tech startup collected $21 million in its Series A round, with OpenAI’s fund participating alongside other investors in April 2023. The fund also took part in three additional rounds, including a recent $300 million Series D, which valued Harvey at $3 billion.
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Heeyo: Creating AI-powered educational chatbots for children, Heeyo announced a $3.5 million funding round in August, with participation from OpenAI’s fund, the Alexa Fund, Pear VC, and numerous other investors.
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Kick: This company is developing AI agents that, according to them, can “self-drive” bookkeeping processes. It raised a $9 million seed round co-led by General Catalyst and OpenAI’s fund in October.
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Mem: Developing AI-powered note-taking capabilities, this startup raised a $23.5 million Series A round in November 2022, which was primarily led by OpenAI’s fund. Mem has not disclosed any further funding rounds since then.
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Milo: This startup has been developing an AI-driven personal assistant that helps parents organize and keep track of their children’s activities. Milo raised an undisclosed amount of pre-seed and seed funding from OpenAI’s fund, Y Combinator, and other investors.
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Physical Intelligence: Focusing on foundational software for robots, this startup raised a $70 million seed round in March of the previous year. OpenAI’s fund invested and also participated in the company’s $400 million Series A, which valued the company in excess of $2 billion. Other investors in the latest round included Lux Capital, Sequoia, and Jeff Bezos.
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Speak: The developer of an AI-powered language-learning application, Speak, announced a $27 million Series B round in November 2022, led by OpenAI’s fund. In December, the fund participated in Speak’s $78 million Series C, valuing the company at $1 billion.
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Thrive AI: Arianna Huffington, the founder of the Huffington Post, along with the OpenAI Startup Fund, announced a partnership last July to work on investing in and building an “AI health coach” startup, according to a regulatory filing the goal was to raise $10 million.
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Unify: A sales technology company, Unify secured roughly $19 million in seed and Series A capital from the OpenAI Startup Fund, Thrive Capital, and Emergence.
This diverse portfolio showcases the OpenAI Startup Fund’s strategy of backing a variety of AI-focused companies, reflecting a broad interest in emerging areas of technological development and application.
