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Anthropic, an artificial intelligence startup, and one of its major investors, Menlo Ventures, have announced the launch of a $100 million fund dedicated to supporting early-stage AI startups. This initiative, named the Anthology Fund, aims to replicate the success of the 2008 Apple-Kleiner Perkins iFund partnership, which was designed to foster innovation on Apple’s mobile platforms.
Menlo Ventures will provide the financial investment for the startups, while Anthropic will offer $25,000 in credits for the use of its large language models. The Anthology Fund’s strategy closely follows that of the iFund, which initially started with $100 million and doubled to $200 million within two years, supporting developers in creating apps for Apple’s ecosystem.
Matt Murphy, a partner at Menlo Ventures who previously worked at Kleiner Perkins, highlighted the parallels between the two initiatives. “The iFund was wildly successful — it gave Apple insight into early developers’ needs and provided developers with a direct connection to Apple’s plans,” Murphy told CNBC. “We see a lot of similar opportunities with the Anthology Fund.”
Murphy emphasized that the current wave of AI innovation is progressing significantly faster than the iPhone development era, occurring “10 to 100 times quicker.” This rapid pace has led venture capitalists to seek new ways to attract AI startups, with AI funding more than doubling in the second quarter of this year, reaching over $24 billion, according to Crunchbase.
Anthropic’s offering includes coaching, quarterly meetups, and direct access to company resources, providing what Murphy described as a “bat phone” to the company. However, unlike traditional venture capital funds, Anthropic will not take equity stakes in the startups. Co-founder Daniela Amodei, who started Anthropic with her brother Dario after leaving OpenAI, stated that the company aims to create a feedback loop to continuously improve its products by partnering with developers.
“In AI, the high initial costs can deter entrepreneurs from launching their companies,” Amodei said. “Our goal is to mitigate this by providing credits and guidance to help startups enter the ecosystem.”
Anthropic also stands to benefit from having the next generation of AI companies build on its infrastructure, positioning itself as a direct competitor to OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT. OpenAI has its own venture fund, the OpenAI Startup Fund, which is investing $175 million to support AI companies aiming to make a positive global impact.
Murphy noted that the Anthology Fund offers a unique alignment for strategic partners. “This is a unique opportunity for Anthropic, Menlo Ventures, and the entrepreneurs we fund over the next few years to build a strong community, learn together, and drive some of the most disruptive and innovative advancements in AI,” Murphy said.