Venture fund OpenAI Startup Fund quietly raised $15 million: TechCrunch noticed documents filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. They said the amount was contributed by two unnamed investors around April 19.
The documents mentioned only the manager and sole partner of the OpenAI Startup Fund, Ian Hathaway, and the documents themselves were filed on April 25. To facilitate the pooling of money, all capital was transferred to a special purpose vehicle (SPV) — OpenAI Startup Fund SPV II, LP. And this is already the second case when the fund attracts funds in this way. The first time it happened was in February, when the OpenAI Startup Fund attracted $10 million. The thing is that SPVs allow several investors to pool their resources and invest in one company or fund. In the venture capital sector, they are sometimes used to invest in startups that don't fit the fund's strategy or go beyond its terms. The OpenAI Startup Fund is affiliated with, but technically separate from, OpenAI. Invests in startups in the early stages of development, which are often related to artificial intelligence. Among the fund's portfolio companies are Harvey startup Ambiance Healthcare and humanoid robotics firm Figure AI.
What is known
Last year, the OpenAI Startup Fund came under scrutiny, as it turned out that for a long time it was legally controlled by the director of OpenAI, Sam Altman. Although it was positioned as an ordinary corporate venture fund, it raised capital for the OpenAI Startup Fund from external partners with limited liability, including Microsoft (a close partner and investor of OpenAI), and had the right to a decisive vote in the fund's investments, writes TechCrunch.
In April, Altman transferred formal control of the OpenAI Startup Fund to Hathaway, which was previously an investor in venture capital firm Haystack and has played a key role in managing the fund since 2021.
As a reminder, Sam Altman became a billionaire — not thanks to OpenAI. “Investments in startups” helped to reach this mark.