Reflecting a continued focus on machine learning, Google has announced a new venture fund specifically aimed at artificial intelligence. Gradient Ventures will focus on providing technical mentorship for early-stage startups focused in the burgeoning field.
Other normal VC resources include capital and unique access to “experts and bootcamps in AI.” This includes a litany of Googlers:
Many members of our team are engineers, so we’re familiar with the journey from big idea to product launch. The goal is to help our portfolio companies overcome engineering challenges to create products that will apply artificial intelligence to today’s challenges and those we’ll face in the future.
Anna Patterson, formerly Vice President of Engineering in AI, is the managing partner and will be overseeing the fund’s investments and activities. The team also includes another Google engineer, as well as a former Partner from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.
Advisors to Gradient Ventures’ startups include X lead Astro Teller, design VP Matias Duarte, and Ray Kurzweil.
There are already four portfolios in the company:
- Algorithmia is a community of developers, researchers and organizations that contribute to a marketplace made up of algorithms, functions and models.
- Cogniac provides software to easily create and visually compose Convolutional Neural Network models.
- Cape virtualizes drone hardware enabling people to fly drones remotely.
- Aurima is a company developing an alternative sensing modality together with deep AI modeling.
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