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 invested in an additional 500 companies, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. It is said that they have completed raising $10,000.
The new capital was raised from two investors and transferred to a special purpose vehicle (OpenAI Startup Fund SPV III, LP), a legal entity affiliated with OpenAI Startup Fund.
This is the third time OpenAI Startup Fund has raised an SPV. The investment arm closed on its second SPV investment last month for $15 million, TechCrunch reported at the time. The fund raised its first SPV of $10 million in February.
The fund had $175 million in commitments last year and had total net assets of $325 million earlier this year, according to a separate SEC filing.
The OpenAI Startup Fund functions as a corporate venture capital unit, but receives funding from external limited partners, including Microsoft (a close partner and investor in OpenAI).
The Startup Fund has backed at least 16 other startups, according to PitchBook data. These include Harvey, Ambiance Healthcare, and humanoid robot company Figure AI. The fund also backed self-driving company Ghost Autonomy, which shut down last month.
OpenAI did not respond to TechCrunch's request for comment at the time of publication. I will update this post if I receive a response.