DEPLOYDatabase

Company

OpenAI Startup Fund

Corporate venture capital arm of OpenAI that invests in early-stage AI companies pushing the boundaries of artificial intelligence.

Track OpenAI Startup Fund
Founded
2021
HQ
San Francisco, CA
Status
private (VC fund)

Overview

Corporate venture capital arm of OpenAI that invests in early-stage AI companies pushing the boundaries of artificial intelligence. Launched in 2021 with an initial $100M commitment that grew to $175M, the fund has backed over a dozen startups including humanoid-robotics firms Figure AI and 1X, legal AI platform Harvey, and healthcare AI startup Ambience Healthcare.

The fund is managed by Ian Hathaway (sole partner since 2024) and Brad Lightcap (OpenAI COO); Sam Altman originally controlled the fund but transferred ownership in March 2024 amid governance scrutiny.

Reality check

Note

Sam Altman transferred ownership of the fund in March 2024 after board governance controversy

Verified record

Verified deployments
None on file
Active incidents
None on file

Key facts

Fund size

$175M (initially $100M, grew to $175M)

Launched

2021

Manager

Ian Hathaway (sole partner/GP since April 2024)

Manager

Brad Lightcap (OpenAI COO, fund manager)

Portfolio

Figure AI, Harvey, Ambience Healthcare, Anysphere, Speak, 1X, Chai Discovery, Kick

Financial stage

growth

Data & sources

News coverage

3

Web sources

1

4 sources backing this record.View all →

OpenAI Startup Fund on the deployment map

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Relationships

FFigure AICo-developerNNVIDIAInvestorIIntel CorporationInvestorAARK InvestInvestorBBezos ExpeditionsInvestorMMicrosoftInvestorPParkway Venture CapitalInvestor

Current leadership (2)

  • Ian Hathaway Partner & Manager, OpenAI Startup FundSEC-verified
  • Brad Lightcap COO of OpenAI & Manager, OpenAI Startup FundSEC-verified

Former / Previously (1)

  • Sam Altman Former Controller, OpenAI Startup FundSEC-verified

Safety record

No incidents on record for OpenAI Startup Fund.

Only active incidents are counted. Retracted incidents are excluded from this summary but remain reachable at their canonical URLs.

Full safety record: incidents, sourcing, and exposure data →

Recent coverage

OpenAI Startup Fund in third-party press

Sam Altman backs Alfred, a physical AI startup for robotics - Yahoo Finance

Jun 2, 2026

Sam Altman’s OpenAI just made robotics its next frontier and it’s hiring to prove it - Tech Funding News

Jun 1, 2026

OpenAI is hiring its way back into robotics - Startup Fortune

May 31, 2026