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
Launched
Manager
Manager
Portfolio
Financial stage
Data & sources
News coverage
3
Web sources
1
4 sources backing this record.View all →
Partnerships
Every company OpenAI Startup Fund has built with, alongside the ones only announced in a press release.
Most-frequent partners
- 1ARK Invest1× joint1 total
- 2Bezos Expeditions1× joint2 total
- 3Figure AI1× joint15 total
- 4Intel Corporation1× joint10 total
- 5Microsoft1× joint351 total
- 6NVIDIA1× joint1112 total
Most recent
- Figure AI Series B (2024)2024-02-29with Figure AIoperating
Relationships
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
Financial state
- Reporting basis
- private_reported
- Lifecycle stage
- mature
- Counterparty risk class
- low
Each numeric field carries its own basis marker. Aggregators report a number; this surface preserves the source class so verification depth travels with the value.
Partnerships
1 total · 1 operating
Every company OpenAI Startup Fund has built with, alongside the ones only announced in a press release.
Most recent
- Figure AI Series B (2024)2024-02-29with Figure AIoperating
Most-frequent partners
- 1ARK Invest1× joint1 total
- 2Bezos Expeditions1× joint2 total
- 3Figure AI1× joint15 total
- 4Intel Corporation1× joint10 total
- 5Microsoft1× joint351 total
- 6NVIDIA1× joint1112 total
All 1 partnerships
open in the atlas →- Figure AI Series B (2024)withFigure AI15,NVIDIA1112,Intel Corporation10,ARK Invest1,Bezos Expeditions2,Microsoft351,Parkway Venture Capital2investment2024-02-29operating
Timeline
Every recorded move in OpenAI Startup Fund’s history, most recent first: funding rounds, partnerships, acquisitions, supply-chain starts, key hires, and press.
PartnershipFigure AI Series B (2024)
2024-02-29Figure AI raised a $675 million Series B at a $2.6 billion valuation (announced Feb 29, 2024), with investors including NVIDIA, Intel Capital, Microsoft, the OpenAI Startup Fund, Bezos Expeditions, Parkway Venture Capital, and ARK Invest; announced alongside a collaboration with OpenAI.
Recent activity
Every change to this record is dated, sourced, and independently verified where marked.
- Record createdJun 25, 2026
Added to the verified registry
Sources (4)
Common questions
What is OpenAI Startup Fund?
What does OpenAI Startup Fund make?
Is OpenAI Startup Fund publicly traded?
How can I invest in OpenAI Startup Fund?
Where is OpenAI Startup Fund headquartered?
Who owns OpenAI Startup Fund?
Is OpenAI Startup Fund a top robotics company?
When was OpenAI Startup Fund founded?
Is OpenAI Startup Fund safe?
Methodology: Verified · 4 sources (no primary) · last reviewed 2026-08-05
Verification posture
Verified
Low confidence
Review state
Stable
Last reviewed 2026-08-05
Sources by quality tier
- 3
- secondary-industry-publication
- Industry publication
- 1
- unclassified
- Unclassified source
The framework is documented at /methodology. Corrections at /corrections. Reviewer: DEPLOY editorial team.
Methodology surface for OpenAI Startup Fund.In the press
Recent coverage mentioning OpenAI Startup Fund from third-party publications. Automatically surfaced; not part of the verified registry record.
Sam Altman backs Alfred, a physical AI startup for robotics - Yahoo Finance
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Sam Altman’s OpenAI just made robotics its next frontier and it’s hiring to prove it - Tech Funding News
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OpenAI is hiring its way back into robotics - Startup Fortune
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The OpenAI mafia: 18 startups founded by alumni - TechCrunch
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OpenAI-backed startup says its $20,000 robot learns by watching videos like a human - Founded
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1X struck a deal to send its ‘home’ humanoids to factories and warehouses - TechCrunch
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Anysphere, Figure AI-backer OpenAI Startup Fund raises $44M in largest SPV
The OpenAI Startup Fund raises $44M through its largest SPV, backing companies including Anysphere, Figure AI, Harvey, and Ambience Healthcare.
OpenAI’s startup empire: The companies backed by its venture fund - TechCrunch
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Why Investors Can't Get Enough of AI Robotics Deals Right Now - Newcomer | Substack
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OpenAI Startup Fund raises additional $5M - TechCrunch
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OpenAI Startup Fund quietly raises $15M - TechCrunch
<a…
OpenAI Startup Fund quietly raises $15M
The OpenAI Startup Fund submits new paperwork raising $15M, mentioning Ian Hathaway as the fund manager and sole partner.
Machine-readable surfaces
- Markdown mirror: /companies/openai-startup-fund.md
- RSS feed: /companies/openai-startup-fund/feed.xml
- JSON-LD: embedded in this page’s head
- REST API: /v1/companies/ddcb29ba-549d-46ba-bc38-7b628b5635b7
- Revision history: /companies/openai-startup-fund/history
- Data documentation: /data
- Query this programmatically: Deploy MCP
Heat Index
Serious52/100
A composite of competitive footprint, funding, press velocity, active partnerships, and supply-chain edges. Different from the Intelligence score below (which is per-form-factor productization). Non-robotics companies cap at 25.
Reality vs attention
Not enough verified signal yet to place OpenAI Startup Fund against peers. Reality and attention percentiles publish once the underlying record clears its data floor.
6-month trend
Analysis
Limited public funding data for capital position assessment.
Dimension breakdown
Verified signal
Attention (reach, not merit)
DEPLOY Intelligence scores are computed from verified registry data: confirmed deployments, disclosed funding rounds, regulatory filings, active job listings, video viewership, and press coverage. Confidence ratings reflect data availability. Scores update nightly.
DEPLOY Indices — verified vs claimed
Last computed: Oct 2, 2026