A new venture capital fund with strong connections to OpenAI has reached its initial milestone toward a $100 million target, according to the founders speaking with JS. They have already begun investing.
The fund, named Zero Shot, is inspired by an AI training concept. The co-founding team comprises several original members of OpenAI who transitioned into venture capital by chance.
Three founding partners are from OpenAI. Evan Morikawa, who led applied engineering during the launches of DALL·E and ChatGPT through Codex, now works with robotics startup Generalist. Andrew Mayne, the first prompt engineer at OpenAI, is recognized for hosting The OpenAI podcast. He also established Interdimensional, an AI deployment consultancy. Shawn Jain, an engineer and former researcher at OpenAI, transitioned to venture capital and founded the GenAI startup Synthefy.
Joining them is VC Kelly Kovacs, a former founding partner at 01A, a growth-stage venture firm started by Dick Costello and Adam Bain. The fifth founder is Brett Rounsaville, previously with Twitter and Disney, serving as CEO at Mayne’s Interdimensional.
According to Mayne, the OpenAI alumni have been close for years, having collaborated at the company during its formative periods and through significant growth phases.
After their departure, they were frequently approached for insights on emerging AI technologies by venture capitalists and friends launching startups. This demand led Mayne to establish his consulting firm.
“Many friends emerged from OpenAI eager to start their own ventures,” Mayne noted.
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The alumni identified significant gaps between the AI startups receiving funding and the actual needs of the market.
“Perhaps we should establish our own fund, given our understanding of the industry’s trajectory and the access we have to exceptional creators,” Mayne reflected on their decision.
After discussions with institutions and family offices resulted in an initial $20 million, the partners aimed for a $100 million fund, with several investments already made.
Zero Shot has supported Angela Jiang, a former OpenAI product manager, and her startup Worktrace AI. This company is developing AI-driven management software to help businesses automate tasks by identifying which ones should be automated. Worktrace AI secured a $10 million seed round, with estimates from PitchBook highlighting participants like Mira Murati and OpenAI’s Fund.
Additionally, the team invested in Foundry Robotics, a startup focused on advanced AI-enhanced factory robotics. It recently raised $13.5 million in seed funding, led by Khosla Ventures. Zero Shot has also invested in a third startup, currently operating in stealth mode.
The AI Investments They’re Avoiding
The founders of Zero Shot believe they have a deeper understanding of AI trends compared to many venture capitalists, aiding them in selecting which startups to invest in and which to avoid.
Mayne, for example, is skeptical about most forms of vibe coding, predicting that those with expertise in coding will make such platforms redundant.
Morikawa shared with JS his skepticism about many companies focused on “ergo-centric video data” for robotics training.
“There’s a lot of hope that researchers will solve the embodiment gap,” Morikawa commented on the video data, but “that’s far from being achievable.”
Mayne also doubts the viability of most startups working on “digital twins.” After evaluating some, he found that a standard LLM model performs equally well.
“It takes real skill to forecast the future direction of these models because it’s not a straightforward path,” Morikawa remarked.
Beyond the founding investors, Zero Shot has enlisted well-known advisors who will share in the fund’s “carried interest.” These advisors include Diane Yoon, Steve Dowling, and Luke Miller, all of whom have held significant roles at OpenAI.
