AI Grant

7 min read Original article ↗

AI Grant — accelerator for seed-stage AI startups

  • $250,000 on an uncapped SAFE for your AI-native product startup
  • $350,000 in Azure credits + $250,000 in additional credits
  • Summit in San Francisco with advisors and founders
  • Demo Day with world-class investors
  • Applications for Batch 4 are closed

Advisors and speakers:

Looking for our open source grant program? Check out aigrant.org.

AI Grant companies — batch 4

AI Grant companies — batch 3

AI Grant companies — batch 2

AI Grant companies — batch 1

  • Perplexity — the fastest way to get an answer
  • Cursor — AI-first code editor
  • Replicate — cloud infrastructure for ML models
  • Animato — video chat with AI characters
  • Lexica.art — make AI art
  • Minion.ai — automated browser assistant
  • Recraft — generate vector art and 3D images
  • Flair — AI design tool for branded content
  • ValueBase — AI property valuation models for municipal governments
  • WOMBO — magical consumer AI experiences
  • Chroma — programmable memory for AI
  • Poly Corp — AI-generated textures
  • Sieve — AI video API
  • Sameday — appointment scheduling AI
  • Play.ht — AI voiceover for podcasts
  • Ghostwrite — automatic email composer
  • BuildShip — low-code visual backend builder
  • Birch — automating complex call center operations in regulated industries
  • Vizcom — AI-powered engineering drawings
  • Circle Labs — generative AI friends
  • Samaya AI — knowledge discovery platform for financial services
  • Secret Weapons — AI video tools used by Hollywood
  • Pixelcut — AI-powered product photos
  • AniML — NeRF-generated product videos
  • Dust — browser copilot for teams
  • Forefront — enterprise chatbot

What do I get if I win?

  • A $250k investment via a no cap, no discount MFN SAFE (available here).
  • A weekend with peers and advisors at the AI Grant Summit in San Francisco
  • A chance to present at the AI Grant Demo Day in San Francisco in front of an invite-only group of world-class investors
  • $350,000 in cloud credits from Azure, along with other startup benefits, membership in the Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub, and go-to-market support
  • $55,000 in credits from PostHog
  • $50,000 in credits from Replicate
  • $30,000 in credits from Anthropic
  • $25,000 in credits from Modal
  • $15,000 in credits from OpenAI
  • $12,000 in credits from Vercel
  • $11,000 in credits from Eleven Labs
  • $10,000 in credits from Vapi
  • $10,000 in credits from Hugging Face
  • $10,000 in credits from AssemblyAI
  • $10,000 in credits from Perplexity
  • $10,000 in credits from Fireworks AI
  • 10 free seats from Weights and Biases
  • 10 free seats from Julius AI
  • 25% off models from Cohere
  • 20% off fees from Deel
  • $7,500 in credits from Together AI
  • $5,000 in credits from Zilliz Cloud
  • $2,500 in credits from Stripe
  • $2,500 in credits from Clerk
  • $2,500 in credits from Pilot
  • $1,000 in credits from Linear
  • $1,000 in credits from Render

Can anyone apply?

Yes – no credentials required.

What type of company or project qualifies?

Anything that leverages AI models in a useful or engaging way. In particular, we're looking for technical & pragmatic founders who want to build great products. If you get a thrill from making something that other people love to use, and you understand that building a new product is 1% idea and 99% iteration, we want to support you. Our focus with AI Grant is on pre-seed/seed-stage startups.

Wait, is this a grant or an investment?

It is an investment. When we started AI Grant in 2017, we handed out much smaller grants for fundamental research. We awarded grants to 36 individuals, who went on to do important research, and to found companies like Cohere, Helia, and Cresta.

Five years later, it seems much has changed: AI research is abundant, but UX and product innovation is just getting started, and so we're relaunching the program with a focus on AI products & investments versus AI papers & grants.

Who is behind this?

AI Grant is run by Hersh Desai and Lenny Bogdonoff. Nat and Daniel have invested $10M in AI Grant. The company investments themselves are made by AI Grant LLC.

Are larger investments available?

Nat and Daniel separately invest in startups, generally leading rounds, investing between $1M and $100M. Companies that receive larger investments will also have access to the Andromeda Cluster.

Will you fund multiple projects working on the same thing?

Yes. We plan to fund many companies; some form of overlap is bound to happen. Ultimately, we don't think this will be an issue because we strongly believe the AI product market is enormous -- large enough to support both Lyft and Uber or Bing and Google.

How will you select the winners?

We're looking for smart and energetic people with actionable ideas that are clearly useful. Demos are a big plus; not just because they're fun to look at, but because they hint at the type of person that cares about the end-user experience, which is ultimately all that matters.

Do I need a company to apply?

No, but you will need one if you're accepted into the program. We only invest in Delaware corporations, but you can create one from almost anywhere in the world with Stripe Atlas (or other programs) in only a few days.

Can I apply if I've raised money already?

Yes.

I'm a single founder. Can I apply?

Yes.

I love this idea and I want to help! Can I provide additional funding, hardware, GPU time, datasets, mentorship, or help reviewing applications?

Yes! Thank you for being awesome! If you want to contribute in any way, please email us at sponsorship@aigrant.org.

I have further questions! How can I reach you?

support@aigrant.org