Mythos Ventures Secures $14M for First Fund Focused on AI Investments

Mythos Ventures Closes $14 Million for AI-Focused Fund

Mythos Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm founded by Vishal Maini, has successfully closed $14 million in capital commitments for its inaugural fund, which will target transformative AI companies. Backing the firm are Metaplanet, Delphi Ventures, The Operating Group, and noted individual investors such as Phil Black (co-founder of True Ventures), Walter Kortschak (managing director of Summit Partners), Tom Shaughnessy (co-founder of Delphi Digital), and Anna Counselman (co-founder of Upstart).

Based in San Francisco, this solo general partner firm joins other prominent players like Connect Ventures, Fuse, and Unconventional Ventures in announcing new funds this month. Maini’s partners include Jonathan Eng and Paul Gu, with whom he shares a long history; the trio studied together at Yale and previously worked at Gu's fintech startup, Upstart. Most recently, Maini contributed to safety and artificial general intelligence deployment efforts at DeepMind.

"It was evident from my experiences that we are on the verge of transitioning from research to tangible product readiness," Maini shared. "We haven't even reached the peak yet. I initiated this venture now because I believe a wave of transformative companies will emerge in the next decade that will redefine history. It felt like the perfect moment to assemble a dedicated team for this mission."

However, Maini is aware of the crowded AI landscape. In fact, he remarked, "It’s a challenging time to launch a fund, and arguably an even tougher time to start an AI fund.” His insight reflects the current influx of attention and resources into the AI sector.

Despite these challenges, within six months, Maini surpassed his initial target of $6 million, securing commitments by focusing on “transformative AI.” He explained that this term, popularized by Open Philanthropy, encompasses two key aspects: achieving advanced AI systems with significant impact and creating systems capable of performing cognitive tasks at human-level proficiency. Maini believes this terminology will gain traction in the coming years, distinguishing itself from the prevailing term "generative AI."

Mythos Ventures plans to invest between $100,000 and $1 million in companies at the pre-seed and seed stages. Maini aims to target startups in areas he considers underhyped. These include companies that utilize machine learning and artificial cognition to disrupt industries without relying heavily on generative AI. Additionally, he seeks firms that will remain relevant in the long term, envisioning a future where the designation of "AI company" may become obsolete.

The firm has already invested in four companies from its new fund, including Elicit, which is developing an AI research assistant for automating scientific literature reviews and recently announced its first funding round, as well as Monumental, which is innovating AI-enabled robotic stone-carving factories, and ValueBase, focused on automating real estate valuations.

“We aim to support startups from the ideation phase all the way through to maturity,” Maini stated. “In my view, there won't be many companies distinctly labeled as AI in ten years. It will be commonplace. We will invest in those that can harness the transition as it unfolds.”

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