Google announces Gradient Ventures, an early-stage AI fund
Google has announced a new venture fund named Gradient Ventures to provide technical mentorship to artificial intelligence start-ups. The tech firm will take a minority stake in its chosen companies and offer funding, resources and expertise to encourage the startups to flourish. Google is already mentoring Algorithmia, an algorithms and functions marketplace, and Cogniac, a range of visual model management tools.

AI-powered technology holds a lot of promise—from improving patient health to making data centers more efficient. But while we’ve seen some amazing applications of AI so far, we know there are many more out there that haven’t even been imagined yet. And sometimes, these new ideas need support to flourish.



That’s why we’re announcing Gradient Ventures, a new venture fund from Google with technical mentorship for early-stage startups focused on artificial intelligence. Through Gradient, we’ll provide portfolio companies with capital, resources, and dedicated access to experts and bootcamps in AI. We’ll take a minority stake in the startups in which we invest.



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.



Our portfolio is already growing, and our first companies are making progress, including Algorithmia, a marketplace for algorithms and functions, and Dyndrite, a compute and development engine for additive manufacturing solutions.



Through AI, yesterday's science fiction is becoming today's nonfiction. There's everything to reimagine as we usher in this new era of technology—and we're excited to work with entrepreneurs to start building it.

