OpenAI Startup Fund Secures $15M in Silent Round of Funding

The OpenAI Startup Fund, a venture initiative linked to — yet operationally distinct from — OpenAI, has successfully completed a $15 million capital raise focused on early-stage companies, primarily in the AI sector, including those in education, law, and the sciences.

According to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, two undisclosed investors contributed the $15 million around April 19. The documentation was submitted on April 25 and highlights Ian Hathaway, the fund's manager and sole partner.

This funding was allocated to a special purpose vehicle (SPV) named OpenAI Startup Fund SPV II, L.P. SPVs enable multiple investors to combine their resources and invest in specific companies or funds, allowing funds to support startups that align outside their traditional strategies. They also broaden access to a variety of non-institutional investors.

This marks the second instance of the OpenAI Startup Fund utilizing an SPV for capital raising; previously, it raised $10 million in February through a similar approach. The OpenAI Startup Fund boasts a portfolio that includes innovative companies such as legal tech startup Harvey, Ambiance Healthcare, and humanoid robotics firm Figure AI. The fund faced scrutiny last year after reports surfaced indicating that OpenAI CEO Sam Altman had longstanding legal control over the fund. While functioning like a conventional corporate venture arm, Altman secured funding from external limited partners, including Microsoft, which is closely associated with OpenAI, and held ultimate decision-making authority related to the fund’s investments.

Despite neither OpenAI nor Altman holding any financial stake in the fund, critics raised concerns about potential conflicts of interest due to Altman's ownership role; OpenAI characterized the general partner structure as intended to be temporary.

In April, Altman formally transferred control of the OpenAI Startup Fund to Hathaway, a former investor at Haystack Ventures, who has been instrumental in managing the fund since 2021.

As of last year, the OpenAI Startup Fund — which also includes an incubator program called Converge — had amassed $175 million in commitments and recorded a gross net asset value of $325 million. The fund has supported over a dozen startups, including Descript, a collaborative multimedia editing platform valued at $553 million last year; the language learning app Speak; the AI-driven note-taking application Mem; and the IDE platform Anysphere.

As of the time of publication, OpenAI had not responded to requests for comment. This post will be updated if additional information becomes available.