OpenAI Startup Fund raises additional $5M

The OpenAI Startup Fund, a venture fund that invests in early-stage AI companies and has recently transferred legal control from Sam Altman to Ian Hathaway, has closed on an additional $5 million, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. 

The fresh funds were raised from two investors who transferred the capital into a special purpose vehicle, a legal entity associated with the OpenAI Startup Fund: OpenAI Startup Fund SPV III, L.P.

This is the third time the OpenAI Startup Fund has raised an SPV. The investment unit closed on $15 million for its second SPV last month, TechCrunch reported at that time. The fund raised its first SPV with $10 million in February.  

Last year, the fund had $175 million in commitments and held $325 million gross net asset value earlier this year, according to another SEC document.

While the OpenAI Startup Fund functions as a corporate venture capital unit, it raises capital from external limited partners, including Microsoft (a close OpenAI partner and investor).

The Startup Fund has backed at least 16 startups, according to PitchBook data. They include Harvey, Ambiance Healthcare and humanoid robotics firm Figure AI. The fund also backed Ghost Autonomy, an autonomous driving company that shut down last month. 

OpenAI hadn’t responded to TechCrunch’s request for comment as of publication time. We’ll update this post if we hear back.

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