Since its establishment in 2021, the Openai Startup Fund has raised $175 million for its main fund, adding $114 million through five separate special purpose vehicles, an investment pool for specific opportunities.
Unlike many large tech companies, Openai says it doesn’t use the company’s money to invest in startups. ChatGpt Maker says the Openai startup fund is raised from outside investors. This includes participation from important Openai supporters Microsoft and “other Openai partners,” according to the fund’s website.
Research from Data Providers Pitchbook, CrunchBase and TechCrunch shows that the Openai Startup Fund, managed by a dedicated team, has invested in more than dozens of startups so far.
The following companies have announced investments from the Openai Startup Fund, organized alphabetically:
1X: The Norwegian humanoid robot startup raised $23.5 million in early 2023 in a deal led by the Openai Startup Fund and Tiger Global.
Ambience Healthcare: The AI-powered medical memoting startup unveiled a $70 million Series B co-led by Openai Fund and Kleiner Perkins in February 2024. Amvience is one of many startups, including Abridge, Nabla, Suki, and Microsoft-owned Nuance, which are building AI Medical Scribes.
Anysphere (aka cursor): In October 2023, Openai’s fund led a $8 million seed round to Anysphere, the maker of AI-powered coding assistant cursors. Openai has not been appointed as an investor for the company’s subsequent rounds.
Chai Discovery: The startup raised $30 million in a $30 million seed round in Seed Round, led by the Thrive Capital and Openai funds last September. The deal valued the six-month Chai discovery at $150 million.
Class Companion: This Edtech startup raised $4 million seed rounds from Openai funds and many Angels in 2023. It helps teachers provide students with quick, personalized feedback.
Description: In the Series C round led by OpenAI funds shortly after CHATGPT was introduced to the world in late 2022, the joint audio and video editing platform raised $50 million. The description has not reported any other capital increases since Series C.
Figure AI: The AI Robotics startup diagram raised a $675 million Series B in February 2024 from Nvidia, Openai’s Fund, Microsoft and others. The round valued the company at $2.6 billion. Figure AI is currently in discussions to raise $1.5 billion at a valuation of $39.5 billion.
Ghost Autonomy: The autonomous driving software manufacturer raised a $55 million Series E in April 2023, and the Openai fund invested that $5 million, according to Pitchbook data. However, the investment did not work. A year later, the company closed.
Harvey AI: The Legal Tech startup raised a $21 million Series A in April 2023 from Openai’s fund and others. The fund also participated in three rounds, including last month’s $300 million Series D. This valued Harvey at $3 billion.
Heeyo: Educational AI chatbot for children Heeyo announced in August it raised $3.5 million from Openai funds, Alexa Fund, Pear VC and other investors.
Kick: The company is developing an AI agent that says it can do a “self-driving” bookkeeping process. In October, they raised a $9 million seed round co-led by the General Catalyst and Openai funds.
MEM: The AI-powered note-taking startup raised a $23.5 million Series A round in November 2022, led by Openai’s fund. MEM has not reported any subsequent funding rounds.
MILO: The startup is developing an AI-driven personal assistant to help parents organize and track their children’s activities. Milo has raised private quantities of seed and seed funding from Openai’s fund, YC and others.
Physical Intelligence: Robot Basic Software Startup Physical Intelligence raised a $70 million seed round last March. Openai’s fund is part of it, and also participated in the $400 million Series A of the company that valued the company at over $2 billion. Other investors in the latest round include Lux Capital, Sequoia and Jeff Bezos.
Story: The AI-powered language learning app developer collected 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, valued the company at $1 billion.
Thrive AI: Huffington Post founder Arianna Huffington and the Openai Startup Fund announced last July that they had helped the “AI Health Coach” startup invest and build. According to regulatory filings, Thrive AI aims to raise $10 million.
Unify: The sales technology startup has secured around $19 million in Openai Startup Fund, Thrive Capital and Seed and Series A capital from the emergence.
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