The OpenAI Startup Fund, the early-stage AI investor affiliated with OpenAI, recently disclosed in a financial filing that it has raised over $44 million for its fifth Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) — its biggest so far.
Launched in 2021, the Fund has an unusual structure. It uses OpenAI’s name, but says OpenAI is not an investor. Originally legally controlled by OpenAI cofounder and CEO Sam Altman, it has raised money from outside LPs, including Microsoft, a big OpenAI backer, and “other OpenAI partners,” according to its web site. Altman gave up legal control to general partner Ian Hathaway earlier this year.
VCs typically use SPVs to pool money from investors and invest outside their main fund. However, the Fund is staying quiet about exactly what these funds are for.
A spokesman from OpenAI told TechCrunch that this SPV “will be used to support a variety of existing portfolio companies and to make new investments.”
“SPVs allow us to allocate capital to high-potential investments opportunistically.”
The Fund, founded in 2021, has been on a real SPV streak this year, disclosing five separate vehicles that now total $114.2m:
- SPV I, January 2024: $10,000,000
- SPV II, April 2024: $24,999,947 (first disclosed as $15m, later amended)
- SPV III, May 2024: $5,000,000 (as covered by TechCrunch)
- SPV IV, July 2024: $29,916,411
- SPV V, Dec 2024: $44,281,693
Despite the flurry of activity, its website is sparse, with its most recent news posted a year ago. The website discloses only a few of its investments, like legal AI startup Harvey and AI note taking app Mem.
However, the fund is more active than its website indicates. Notable investments this year include include Thrive Health, an AI health venture between Sam Altman and Ariana Huffington, and warm outbound startup Unify.
The fund is also a seed investor in Anysphere, which is currently in the middle of a VC bidding war thanks to its AI code assistant Cursor.
These SPVs are all on top of the Fund’s original capital of $175.25m, which was raised back in October 2021.
