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AI Sector Spotlight: Generative AI and Computer Vision

This series examines significant artificial intelligence, machine learning, and big data innovations in key sectors of the economy

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Alumni Ventures

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The rapid adoption of practical artificial intelligence has left few parts of the economy untouched. The potential of AI technology promises to reshape and disrupt the creation of art and media, medicine, law, and other age-old disciplines. In this series, we examine the effects and opportunities of AI integration in key sectors of the economy. Below you’ll find a spotlight on generative AI and computer vision, with examples of investments from our AI Fund portfolio.

Other Installments in This Series

Investing in the Future: Explore Our AI Fund

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We are seeing strong interest in this fund. AI Fund 2 was oversubscribed, and we had to establish a waitlist to accommodate interest. If interested, we recommend securing a spot promptly.

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Deadline to Join: August 31, 2023

Generative AI and Computer Vision

One of AI’s most immediately apparent – and divisive – uses has been to generate media and content traditionally created by humans. From winning art contests to producing children’s books, generative AI models such as Stable Diffusion and Dall-E have produced stunning art pieces. At the same time, ChatGPT and Bard have written short stories, screenplays, and even novels from user-provided prompts.

While debates over the merits of AI-generated art are ongoing, the practical applications have resulted in a flood of integrations. For example, Microsoft has baked an AI assistant into Windows, while Adobe’s Firefly toolset can generate stunning visual effects.

Experts say AI will have many more applications in the future that will be less dramatic than crafting entire screenplays or stock photos on command. Nonetheless, the creative disciplines and industries face the most disruption from generative AI tools.

Key Sector Data Points:

Gen AI & Computer Vision Companies in AV’s Portfolio

Cohere is making natural language AI accessible to all developers and businesses, even those without massive compute resources or machine learning knowledge. Cohere’s state-of-the-art natural language models are accessible via a private, easy-to-use interface available through API as a managed service or cloud ML platforms.

How We’re Involved: $270 million Series C, with participation from several established VCs and enterprises:

  • Index Ventures, a London-based, multi-stage VC firm that invests in e-commerce, fintech, mobility, gaming, AI, and security companies
  • Inovia Capital, a Montreal-based, multi-stage VC firm that invests in B2B and B2C SaaS companies and marketplaces
  • Nvidia, a leading GPU developer for AI, HPC, gaming, creative design, autonomous vehicles, and robotics
  • Salesforce, a leading cloud-based software company for sales, service, and marketing teams
Cohere CEO: The World’s Largest Businesses Will Integrate AI

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SceneCraft (formerly Masterful AI) is an automated software platform that trains deep-learning computer vision models. The company enables any developer to build a production-grade ML model without days and weeks of experimentation or paying an army of human data labelers.

How We’re Involved: Seed round with participation from Union Labs, Homebrew, and SamsungNEXT

Xanadu is a leading quantum computing developer, offering a cloud-accessible, full-stack platform. The company builds photonics-based quantum computer hardware, as well as its own multi-platform software, that can be easily scaled for large and complex scientific and industrial computing applications.

How We’re Involved: $100 million Series C led by Georgian Partners, with participation from Bessemer Venture Partners, Radical Ventures, and BDC Capital

AI Fund 3 Open Through August 31

Our AI Fund will invest in a diversified portfolio of ~20-30 companies applying AI, machine learning, big data, and related technologies. The fund will be invested over ~12-18 months with a large reserve (~20-25%) for follow-on opportunities. AI Fund 2 was oversubscribed, and we had to establish a waitlist to accommodate interest. Click below to review fund materials or connect with a Senior Partner to learn more.

Contact [email protected] for additional information. To see additional risk factors and investment considerations, visit av-funds.com/disclosures.

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Alumni Ventures

Alumni Ventures is a network-powered VC firm that helps accredited individuals invest in venture capital.

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