Alumni Ventures’ Track Record of Investing in Foundational Tech

Artificial Intelligence

The rapid adoption of AI has left few parts of the economy untouched. The potential of AI, machine learning, and big data technology promises to reshape and disrupt the creation of art and media, medicine, law, and other age-old disciplines. PwC found that AI could contribute up to $15.7 trillion to the global economy by 2030 — “more than the current output of China and India combined.” According to McKinsey, the economic value of generative AI alone could be as much as $4.4 trillion.

Sample AV Artificial Intelligence Investments

Bionic Health is developing a consumer health platform powered by GPT-4. With the help of Microsoft, Bionic plans to scale its services by augmenting doctors with AI to deliver optimal health guidance. Read More »

How We’re Involved

• $3 million seed round in 2023, with participation from IDEA Fund Partners, Studio VC, Tweener Fund, AI Operator’s Fund, and Operator.VC

AV Funds Invested in Bionic Health

• Towerview Ventures (for the Duke community)
• AI Fund (AI, machine learning, and big data innovations)
• Healthtech Fund (impactful healthtech and biotech)
• Total Access Fund (our broadest, most diversified fund)

Managing Partner Greg Baker on Bionic Health

Venture Deep Dives: AI in Healthcare

Our “Deep Dives” series explores vital aspects of the burgeoning VC sector with one of AV’s ~50 investing experts. In this episode, Senior Principal Emeritus Isaac Schlecht discusses the impact of AI on the healthcare industry.

Cohere has developed an adaptable API that empowers companies of all sizes to enhance their workflows with NLP. The company was founded by leading AI researchers from Google and has attracted support from several established VCs and enterprise partners in the AI space. Read More »

How We’re Involved

• $270 million Series C in 2023 led by Inovia Capital, with participation from Nvidia, Oracle, Salesforce Ventures, Index Ventures, and others

AV Funds Invested in Cohere

• Congress Avenue Ventures (for the Texas community)
• Spike Ventures (for the Stanford community)
• Towerview Ventures (for the Duke community)
• Westwood Ventures (for the UCLA community)
• The Yard Ventures (for the Harvard community)
• AI Fund (AI, machine learning, and big data solutions)
• Total Access Fund (our broadest, most diversified fund)

Managing Partner Todd McIntyre on Cohere

Biotech

Advancements in biotech, healthtech, and life sciences have vastly improved our quality of life, longevity, and how we treat and cure significant diseases. These innovative solutions are projected to drive the biotech market to nearly $4 trillion by 2030. Gene therapy is an exciting advancement in biotech, where direct cellular therapies help treat or cure patients with inherited or acquired genetic diseases like hemophilia or leukemia. Medical isotopes are another promising focus of biotech research, with the potential to treat diseases like cancer while producing fusion energy.

Sample AV Biotech Investments

American Gene Technologies is developing gene and cell therapy drugs that treat infectious diseases, monogenic disorders, and cancers. The drugs use a proprietary gene-delivery platform to develop patented gene and cell therapies that cure these diseases. Read More »

How We’re Involved

• $16 million Series D1 in 2018 alongside the National Institutes of Health, Swirnow Capital, and Thompson Holdings
• $50 million Series F in 2022 led by Ride Wave Ventures

AV Funds Invested in American Gene Technologies

• Bascom Ventures (for the Wisconsin community)
• Purple Arch Ventures (for the Northwestern community)
• Towerview Ventures (for the Duke community)
• Healthtech Fund (impactful healthtech and biotech)
• Impact Fund (social and diversity ventures)
• Total Access Fund (our broadest, most diversified fund)
• Syndication (opportunities for AV investors)

A Conversation with Founder and CEO Jeff Galvin

Excision Bio is focused on developing advanced gene-editing therapeutics to treat life-threatening viral infections. The company’s CRISPR-based therapies eliminate viral genomes from infected individuals. Read More »

How We’re Involved

• $10 million seed round in 2017 led by ARTIS Ventures, with participation from Bioverge Ventures, Gaingels, and others
• $60 million Series A in 2021 led by GreatPoint Ventures, with participation from Norwest Venture Partners and others

AV Funds Invested in Excision Bio

• Castor Ventures (for the MIT community)
• Chestnut Street Ventures (for the Penn community)
• Spike Ventures (for the Stanford community)
• Westwood Ventures (for the UCLA community)
• Total Access Fund (our broadest, most diversified fund)

SHINE Technologies deploys its safe, cost-effective, and environmentally friendly fusion technology to develop medical isotopes for heart disease and cancer treatment. In the future, SHINE will apply its technology to recycle nuclear waste to achieve its ultimate goal: producing fusion energy. Read More »

How We’re Involved

• $216 million Series B in 2018 led by Deerfield Management Company, with participation from Wisconsin Investment Partners and others
• $80 million Series C in 2020 led by Fidelity Management and Research Company
• $150 million Series C-5 fled by Koch Disruptive Technologies, with participation from Fidelity Management & Research Company
• $70 million growth round led by Baillie Gifford and Fidelity Management and Research Company

AV Funds Invested in SHINE Medical

• 116 Street Ventures (for the Columbia community)
• Bascom Ventures (for the Wisconsin community)
• Castor Ventures (for the MIT community)
• Growth Fund (follow-ons in promising AV portfolio companies)
• Total Access Fund (our broadest, most diversified fund)
• Syndication (opportunities for AV investors)

Quantum Computing

Unlike traditional computing solutions, quantum computers can process far more data through the use of superposition (the ability of a system to be in multiple states at the same time) and entanglement (when a particle correlates with the characteristics of the others). This opens up significant improvements in how enterprises develop solutions for cybersecurity, financial modeling infrastructure optimization, and more — with the potential to become a $700 billion market by 2035.

Sample AV Quantum Computing Investments

Xanadu is a leading quantum computing hardware and software developer, offering a cloud-accessible, state-of-the-art computing platform. Taking a full-stack approach, the company builds photonics-based quantum computer hardware and its own multi-platform software that can be easily scaled for large and complex scientific and industrial computing applications. Learn More »

How We’re Involved

• $100 million Series C in 2022 led by Georgian, with participation from Porsche Automobil Holding SE, Bessemer Venture Partners, and others

AV Funds Invested in Xanadu

• Arbor Street Ventures (for the Michigan community)
• Emmet Street Ventures (for the Virginia community)
• Expo Ventures (for the USC community)
• Nassau Street Ventures (for the Princeton community)
• AI Fund (AI, machine learning, and big data community)
• Deep Tech Fund (disruptive, impactful tech solutions)
• Total Access Fund (our broadest, most diversified fund)
• Syndication (opportunities for AV investors)

Roundtable with AV Quantum Computing Portfolio Companies

Zapata AI has developed a hardware and software stack that lets corporations use AI and quantum computing to address their hardest problems. The company tailors solutions to enterprises’ domain-specific, industrial-scale business problems to drive growth, savings, and unprecedented insight. Read More »

How We’re Involved

• $38 million Series B in 2020 led by Comcast Ventures, Pitango, and Prelude Ventures, with participation from The Engine Accelerator Fund, Merck Global Health Innovation Fund, and others

AV Funds Invested in Zapata

• Congress Avenue Ventures (for the Texas community)
• Waterman Ventures (for the Brown community)
• The Yard Ventures (for the Harvard community)
• Deep Tech Fund (disruptive, impactful tech solutions)
• Total Access Fund (our broadest, most diversified fund)
• Syndication (opportunities for AV investors)