OpenAI Startup Fund raises $5 million more

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

Two new investors invested the money into a special-purpose vehicle, a legal entity associated with the OpenAI Startup Fund. The OpenAI Startup Fund SPV III, L.P. is the name of this vehicle. The OpenAI Startup Fund has raised an SPV three times now. Last month, the investment unit got $15 million for its second SPV. In February, the fund raised $10 million for its first SPV.  

According to another SEC document, the fund had $145.5 million in commitments last year and had a gross net asset value of $325 million earlier this year.

The OpenAI Startup Fund is like a corporate venture capital arm, but it gets its money from outside limited partners, like Microsoft, which is OpenAI’s close partner and investor.

According to PitchBook, the Startup Fund has aided in the establishment of at least 16 new businesses. Some of them are Harvey, Ambiance Healthcare, and Figure AI, a company that makes humanoid robots. The fund also gave money to Ghost Autonomy, a company that made self-driving cars that shut down last month.