Amazon-Backed Anthropic and Menlo Ventures Launch Fund for AI Startups—Here’s Why

Amazon-backed (AMZN) Anthropic announced Wednesday that it is partnering with Menlo Ventures to launch the Anthology Fund, a $100 million fund focused on artificial intelligence (AI) that could better Anthropic’s position in the AI race by supporting startups that could help advance Anthropic’s technology.

Anthropic is an AI company and maker of the Claude model, a competitor of Microsoft-backed (MSFT) OpenAI’s ChatGPT. While ChatGPT established OpenAI as an early leader of the AI boom, Anthropic claims its latest model offers comparable or better performance than GPT-4o and Alphabet’s (GOOGL) Gemini.

New Fund Supports AI Startups With Anthropic Tech, Advancing Its Capabilities

Anthropic could stand to gain from the fund’s rollout as companies supported by the Anthology Fund will have access to Claude and could expand its use.

“The Anthology Fund aims to partner with innovative founders to build unique AI-first applications and infrastructure solutions that leverage Anthropic’s technology and AI models,” Menlo Ventures said in the announcement.

The release noted the Anthology Fund is “not just looking for startups,” but is “seeking AI pioneers who harness Anthropic’s cutting-edge technology to redefine what is possible today through AI,” potentially helping advance Claude’s capabilities and the AI model’s adoption rate, which would benefit Anthropic.

The startups that the fund invests in will also receive $25,000 in free credits to harness Anthropics AI models, potentially setting them on the path to becoming paying Anthropic customers.

The fund’s launch follows similar moves by rivals like OpenAI, which has its own OpenAI Startup Fund, as AI companies invest in startups that could help expand their tech and influence.