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Anthropic Launches $100M AI Startup Fund with VC Firm Menlo
Generative AI developer Anthropic, maker of the Claude family of AI models, has joined the likes of Cisco and Amazon in offering promising AI startups millions in funding, support and technology credits.
The new Anthology Fund for AI startups debuted on Wednesday as a joint initiative between Anthropic and venture capital firm Menlo Ventures. Worth $100 million, the fund is meant to "accelerate the development of groundbreaking AI applications," according to an Anthropic announcement.
Interested startups can apply to be considered for the fund here. If they're accepted, they will receive a pre-seed, seed or Series A investment from Anthology starting at $100,000.
They will also receive $25,000 in Anthropic AI technology credits, infrastructure credits from Menlo partners, access to workspaces in Menlo's California offices, quarterly meetings with teams from both Anthropic and Menlo, exhibits at biannual events co-hosted by the companies, and various networking opportunities.
There are five innovation areas that the fund will focus on:
- AI infrastructure
- Frontier/novel applications of AI
- Consumer AI solutions
- Trust and safety tooling
- AI apps and tech that maximize societal benefits
Anthropic and Menlo are particularly interested in backing startups within the areas of "healthcare, legal services, education, energy, infrastructure, and scientific research," according to Anthropic president Daniela Amodei. In a separate statement, however, Menlo said the fund will consider startups with "exceptional ideas across all sectors."
Startups based in the United States will be prioritized, though the fund is open to "exceptional companies" worldwide. Moreover, startups are not required to use Anthropic's Claude AI to qualify for the fund, though, said Menlo, "we assume the best developers will want to use the best model for their applications."