Latest news with #AIFund
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
AI Adoption in 'Early Innings,' AI Fund's Andrew Ng Says
AI Fund Managing General Partner Andrew Ng says the value of artificial intelligence is steadily rising on "Bloomberg The Close."
Wamda
14-05-2025
- Business
- Wamda
Google joins forces with STV to boost AI innovation across MENA
Saudi-based venture capital firm STV has announced that Google is backing its newly launched AI Fund, a dedicated vehicle aimed at accelerating the growth of AI-native startups across the MENA region. The fund will focus on early-stage ventures building application-layer AI solutions, localised AI models, and supporting infrastructure. Backed by Google's global AI expertise and STV's regional leadership, the initiative aims to close the funding gap in AI, which accounted for only 1.5% of total VC funding in MENA in 2024, compared to 38% in the U.S. and 13% in India. Press release: We are proud to announce that Google is backing STV's new AI Fund, a dedicated fund established to enable the growth of AI-native startups across the Middle East and North Africa. This commitment signals a transformative step towards enabling AI startups at their early stage and accelerates their growth beyond the region. The global momentum around artificial intelligence continues to accelerate, with state-of-the-art models and the infrastructure to train them improving at a fast pace. Closer to home, regional governments and technology companies are actively embracing the opportunity, as efforts to localise AI models and infrastructure have picked up significantly recently. According to our research, 1.5% of the region's VC funding went to AI in 2024 – a stark contrast to 38% in the U.S. and 13% in India. This discrepancy represents a substantial untapped opportunity for innovation, economic growth, and efficiency gains, with immediate AI-driven cost savings in the GCC estimated at $23b+, with the long-term opportunity being orders of magnitude higher. Ahmad AlNaimi, General Partner at STV, mentions, 'We believe that most of the AI value will accrue at the application layer. As such, our AI Fund will focus on investing in ventures that specialize in application-layer AI, localized AI models, and the necessary supporting infrastructure. By combining our regional expertise with Google's global AI leadership, we will be able to scale regional startups that can compete on a global level.' Najeeb Jarrar, Regional Marketing Director for Google in the Middle East & Africa, adds, 'At Google, we have always been committed to providing access to the AI opportunity for everyone. This includes work like the MENA AI Opportunity Initiative, announced last year, alongside valuable programs such as our flagship Google for Startups programs. Our commitment to the STV AI Fund allows us to continue supporting entrepreneurs, who are building the future of AI in the region.' STV, as VC investors, optimism is in our DNA. We're particularly excited about the AI opportunity in the region. We believe this collaboration can spark the first of many cohorts of AI-native ventures and pave the way for the region to become a home base for global technology companies. If you share that vision, join us!
Miami Herald
06-05-2025
- Business
- Miami Herald
AI Fund Closes Oversubscribed $190 Million Fund II to Co-Found AI Startups
Press Releases AI Fund Closes Oversubscribed $190 Million Fund II to Co-Found AI Startups Venture studio expands its mission to work with entrepreneurs to build AI startups, providing hands-on support and early-stage funding to solve real-world challenges. AI Fund , the venture studio founded by renowned AI pioneer and entrepreneur Andrew Ng, today announced the successful closing of its second fund, raising approximately $190 million in an oversubscribed round. This builds on the success of the studio's first $175 million fund and reflects the growing demand for AI-driven innovation across industries. "AI technology advances over the past few years are creating a golden age for founding startups," said Ng, Managing General Partner. "With AI technology giving us increasingly better building blocks for developing software, plus the cost of prototyping plummeting because of AI assisted coding, we can create new startups faster and more efficiently than was ever possible before." A High-Impact Model for Building AI Startups AI Fund's venture studio model gives entrepreneurs a distinct advantage by combining deep AI expertise, market validation, and hands-on talent acquisition support. From ideation to launch, the studio partners with 0-to-1 entrepreneurs to shape the vision, build products, and assemble top-tier technical and leadership teams. This approach fast-tracks AI-powered solutions to market. Under Ng's leadership, AI Fund works alongside entrepreneurs to build companies focused on the application and software infrastructure layers of the AI stack, leveraging foundation models to develop solutions across multiple sectors. The studio's portfolio includes ventures in financial services, renewable energy, future of work, education, logistics, healthcare, and developer tools. Backing from Global Corporations AI Fund's latest fundraise attracted a number of corporate limited partners (LPs), including The AES Corporation; HP Inc.; Mitsui & Co., Ltd.; Mitsubishi Corporation; QBE; and TELUS Global Ventures; among other notable venture capital investors such as Sequoia Capital and NEA. These corporate LPs are among the leaders in their industries that span technology, energy, financial services, healthcare, industrials, and real estate. AI Fund's corporate LPs have a global presence, with operations spanning nearly every continent. The participation of these global corporate partners not only signals confidence in AI Fund's approach, but also reflects the collaborative foundation on which many of the fund's most promising ventures are built: "Many of our ideas originate from close collaborations with corporate partners and VCs who identify critical gaps in their industries, allowing us to launch businesses with built-in customers, proprietary data sets, and market traction," said Warren Packard, Partner at AI Fund. "By bringing together corporate insights and entrepreneurial energy, we create companies that are positioned for long-term success." "We believe AI Fund has a clear eye for what's next, and the ability to turn bold ideas into high-impact ventures," said Carmen Chang, Partner and Head of Asia, NEA. "As returning investors, we've seen how their model gives founders an edge in a fast-moving and increasingly competitive AI market. We're excited to continue supporting Andrew Ng and the team as they help shape the future of AI and its real-world impact." "The next wave of AI innovation won't just be about breakthroughs in technology-it will be about how we build, scale, and apply those breakthroughs," said Andrés Gluski, CEO of The AES Corporation, "AI Fund is cultivating the kind of entrepreneurial rigor and technical depth needed to shape solutions that matter. We're excited to partner with AI Fund on a model that pairs visionary thinking with real-world execution." "At HP, we are on a mission to create meaningful AI experiences that drive growth and more fulfilling work experiences for people everywhere," said Enrique Lores, President and CEO, HP Inc. "Our investment in AI Fund reflects our dedication to catalyzing the development of new experiences that allow users to benefit from AI at the edge. By supporting software innovators and startups, we aim to foster the entrepreneurial spirit needed to develop impactful AI solutions that will shape the future of work." Investing in the Future of AI AI Fund has been building AI startups since long before the widespread rise of tools like ChatGPT and the recent AI boom. With its latest fund, it will continue co-founding companies that leverage the latest technologies like agentic AI, reasoning models, and multi-modal AI. "AI Fund is oriented to moving fast in how we build companies," said Ng. "Building startups is hard, and by systematically approaching the many steps of early stage startup building, such as ideation, having customer conversations, prototyping, product and engineering work, recruiting elite talent, acquiring capital, and so on, we minimize bottlenecks and help companies go much faster." For more information, visit . ABOUT AI FUND: AI Fund is a venture studio that strives to move humanity forward by accelerating the adoption of AI. We work with entrepreneurs to build companies rapidly and increase their odds of success. The studio is supported by top-tier VCs and partners including Sequoia Capital, NEA, AES, and Nikkei. Learn more at . MEDIA CONTACT: Lauren Gill, MAG PR at E: lauren@ ; P: 978-473-1362 # # # SOURCE: AI Fund
Globe and Mail
04-04-2025
- Business
- Globe and Mail
Grayscale Investments® Announces Rebalancing of Multi-Asset Funds for First Quarter 2025
STAMFORD, Conn., April 04, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Grayscale Investments®, a leading crypto asset management firm, offering more than 30 crypto investment products, and manager of Grayscale® Digital Large Cap Fund (OTCQX: GDLC) (Digital Large Cap Fund), Grayscale® Decentralized Finance (DeFi) Fund (OTCQB: DEFG) (DeFi Fund), Grayscale® Smart Contract Fund (GSC Fund), and Grayscale® Decentralized AI Fund (AI Fund), today announced the updated Fund Component weightings for each product in connection with their respective first quarter 2025 reviews. In accordance with the CoinDesk Large Cap Select Index methodology, Grayscale has adjusted GDLC's portfolio by purchasing and selling the existing Fund Components in proportion to their respective weightings. At the end of the day on April 3, 2025, GDLC's Fund Components were a basket of the following assets and weightings*: Bitcoin (BTC), 79.59% Ether (ETH), 10.54% XRP (XRP), 5.86% Solana (SOL), 2.88% Cardano (ADA), 1.13% In accordance with the CoinDesk DeFi Select Index methodology, Grayscale has adjusted DEFG's portfolio by purchasing and selling the existing Fund Components in proportion to their respective weightings. At the end of the day on April 3, 2025, DEFG's Fund Components were a basket of the following assets and weightings*: Uniswap (UNI), 42.75% Aave (AAVE), 27.44% MakerDAO (MKR), 12.81% Lido (LDO), 8.80% Curve (CRV), 8.20% In accordance with the CoinDesk Smart Contract Platform Select Capped Index methodology, Grayscale has adjusted GSC Fund's portfolio by selling NEAR Protocol (NEAR) and existing Fund Components in proportion to their respective weightings, and using the cash proceeds to purchase existing Fund Components in proportion to their respective weightings. As a result of the rebalancing, NEAR was removed from GSC Fund. At the end of the day on April 3, 2025, GSC Fund's Fund Components were a basket of the following assets and weightings*: Ether (ETH), 30.92% Solana (SOL), 29.05% Cardano (ADA), 22.91% Avalanche (AVAX), 7.45% Sui (SUI), 7.04% Polkadot (DOT), 2.63% In accordance with AI Fund methodology, Grayscale has adjusted AI Fund's portfolio by selling Livepeer (LPT) and existing Fund Components in proportion to their respective weightings, and using the cash proceeds to purchase existing Fund Components in proportion to their respective weightings. As a result of the rebalancing, LPT was removed from AI Fund. At the end of the day on April 3, 2025, AI Fund's Fund Components were a basket of the following assets and weightings**: NEAR Protocol (NEAR), 30.94% Bittensor (TAO), 20.42% Filecoin (FIL), 20.12% Render (RENDER), 19.26% The Graph (GRT), 9.26% None of GDLC, DEFG, GSC, or AI Fund generate any income, and all regularly distribute Fund Components to pay for ongoing expenses. Therefore, the amount of Fund Components represented by shares of each fund gradually decreases over time. For more information, please visit This press release is not an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any security in any jurisdiction where such an offer or solicitation would be illegal, nor shall there be any sale of any security in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of that jurisdiction. *The compositions of GDLC, DEFG, and GSC Fund are evaluated on a quarterly basis to remove existing Fund Components or to include new Fund Components, in accordance with the index methodologies established by the Index Provider. Holdings and weightings of each Fund are subject to change. Investors cannot directly invest in an index. **The composition of the AI Fund is evaluated on a quarterly basis to remove existing Fund Components or to include new Fund Components, in accordance with the fund methodology established by Grayscale as the Manager of the Fund. Holdings and weightings of the AI Fund are subject to change. About Grayscale® Digital Large Cap Fund Digital Large Cap Fund seeks to provide investors with exposure to large-cap coverage of the digital asset market through a market cap-weighted portfolio designed to track the CoinDesk Large Cap Select Index. Digital Large Cap Fund holds the largest and most liquid digital assets that meet certain trading and custody requirements and are classified in the CoinDesk Digital Asset Classification Standard (DACS); the weightings of each Fund Component change daily and are published around 4:00 p.m. NY-time. Additional information on the Index methodology can be found at: Digital Large Cap Fund's investment objective is for its Shares to reflect the value of Fund Components held by the Digital Large Cap Fund, less its expenses and other liabilities. To date, the Digital Large Cap Fund has not met its investment objective and the Shares quoted on OTCQX have not reflected the value of Fund Components held by the Digital Large Cap Fund, less the Digital Large Cap Fund's expenses and other liabilities, but instead have traded at both premiums and discounts to such value, with variations that have at times been substantial. Grayscale Digital Large Cap Fund LLC ("GDLC") has filed a registration statement (including a prospectus) with the SEC for the offering to which this communication relates. Before you invest, you should read the prospectus in that registration statement and other documents GDLC has filed with the SEC for more complete information about GDLC and this offering. You may get these documents for free by visiting EDGAR on the SEC Web site at Alternatively, GDLC or any authorized participant will arrange to send you the prospectus after filing if you request it by emailing info@ or by contacting Grayscale Securities, 290 Harbor Drive, Stamford, CT 06902. About Grayscale® Decentralized Finance Fund DeFi Fund seeks to provide investors with exposure to a selection of industry-leading decentralized finance platforms through a market cap-weighted portfolio designed to track the CoinDesk DeFi Select Index. DeFi Fund holds some of the largest and most liquid digital assets that meet certain trading and custody requirements and are classified in the DeFi sector defined by CoinDesk Digital Asset Classification Standard (DACS); the weightings of each Fund Component change daily and are published around 4:00 p.m. NY-time. Additional information on the CoinDesk DeFi Select Index methodology can be found at: DeFi Fund's investment objective is for its Shares to reflect the value of Fund Components held by the DeFi Fund, less its expenses and other liabilities. To date, the DeFi Fund has not met its investment objective and the Shares quoted on OTCQB have not reflected the value of Fund Components held by the DeFi Fund, less the DeFi Fund's expenses and other liabilities, but instead have traded at both premiums and discounts to such value, with variations that have at times been substantial. About Grayscale® Smart Contract Fund GSC Fund seeks to provide investors with exposure to a selection of industry-leading Smart Contract Platforms through a market cap-weighted portfolio subject to a weightings cap, designed to track the CoinDesk Smart Contract Platform Select Capped Index. GSC Fund holds some of the largest and most liquid digital assets that meet certain trading and custody requirements, and are classified in the Smart Contract Platform sector defined by CoinDesk Digital Asset Classification Standard (DACS); the weightings of each Fund Component change daily and are published around 4:00 p.m. NY-time. Grayscale intends to attempt to have shares of this product quoted on a secondary market. However, there is no guarantee this will be successful. Although the shares of certain products have been approved for trading on a secondary market, investors in this product should not assume that the shares will ever obtain such an approval due to a variety of factors, including questions regulators such as the SEC, FINRA or other regulatory bodies may have regarding the product. As a result, shareholders of this product should be prepared to bear the risk of investment in the shares indefinitely. Smart contracts are a new technology and ongoing development may magnify initial problems, cause volatility on the networks that use smart contracts and reduce interest in them, which could have an adverse impact on the value of digital assets that deploy smart contracts. Extreme volatility of trading prices that many digital assets have experienced in recent periods and may continue to experience, could have a material adverse effect on the value of the products and the shares could lose all or substantially all of their value. Grayscale Investments Sponsors, LLC ("Grayscale Investments") is not registered as an investment adviser under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 and none of the investment products sponsored or managed by Grayscale are registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940. About Grayscale® Decentralized AI Fund AI Fund seeks to provide investors with exposure to protocols building Decentralized AI services, protocols building solutions to centralized AI-related problems, and infrastructure and resources critical to AI technology development. Grayscale intends to attempt to have shares of this new product quoted on a secondary market. However, there is no guarantee this will be successful. Although the shares of certain products have been approved for trading on a secondary market, investors in this product should not assume that the shares will ever obtain such an approval due to a variety of factors, including questions regulators such as the SEC, FINRA or other regulatory bodies may have regarding the product. As a result, shareholders of this product should be prepared to bear the risk of investment in the shares indefinitely. Decentralized AI is a new technology and ongoing development may magnify initial problems, cause volatility on the networks that use decentralized AI and reduce interest in them, which could have an adverse impact on the value of digital assets that rely on decentralized AI. Extreme volatility of trading prices that many digital assets have experienced in recent periods and may continue to experience, could have a material adverse effect on the value of the products and the shares could lose all or substantially all of their value. About Grayscale Investments® Grayscale enables investors to access the digital economy through a family of future-forward investment products. Founded in 2013, Grayscale has a decade-long track record and deep expertise as an asset management firm focused on crypto investing. Investors, advisors, and allocators turn to Grayscale for single asset, diversified, and thematic exposure. Grayscale products are distributed by Grayscale Securities, LLC (Member FINRA / SIPC).
