OpenAI Startup Fund Unveils Second Cohort of Converge Startups for Innovative Growth

While palace intrigue may be making headlines around OpenAI, the company and its co-branded accelerator initiatives are moving forward without disruption, as confirmed by their PR team.

Today, the OpenAI Startup Fund—which should be noted is a separate entity and not a direct investor in OpenAI—announced the launch of Converge-2. This marks the second cohort of the six-week Converge program designed for “exceptional engineers, designers, researchers, and product builders leveraging AI to reshape our world,” according to a blog post released earlier today.

Similar to the inaugural Converge cohort, the 10-15 startups selected for Converge-2 will receive a $1 million equity investment from the OpenAI Startup Fund, part of the $100 million entrepreneurial initiative announced last May, which is backed by Microsoft and other partners. Doing the math, that totals a minimum of $10 million allocated to the Converge-2 program—an impressive investment indeed.

Beyond financial backing, Converge-2 participants will benefit from tech talks, office hours, social gatherings, and networking opportunities with industry leaders and other members of the OpenAI Startup Fund’s “community of builders,” as highlighted in the blog post. Importantly, startups are not obligated to utilize OpenAI’s APIs; the OpenAI Startup Fund emphasizes that the program is open to anyone interested in developing AI solutions, although the appeal of OpenAI’s technologies is likely to create strong network effects.

The OpenAI Startup Fund invites founders from all backgrounds, disciplines, and levels of expertise—including those outside the United States—to apply. No prior experience with AI systems is necessary. However, startups selected for the program must commit to spending at least four to six hours per week on program activities from March 11 to April 19, with both the opening and closing weeks hosted in San Francisco (travel costs will be covered by the OpenAI Startup Fund).

The deadline for applications is January 26.