AI2 Incubator Raises $10M to Help Seattle Startups Grow

by Ellen Glover
January 17, 2020
Seattle-based AI Startup Incubator AI2 Raises $10M
Courtesy of AI2

The Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence’s startup incubator program AI2 just received $10 million in funding from some of the country’s top venture capital institutions, including Madrona Venture Group, Sequoia Capital, Kleiner Perkins, and Two Sigma Ventures

“These folks have helped build some of the biggest companies of the decade. Generation defining companies," Jacob Colker, AI2’s managing director, told Built In. “We don’t see these guys come together very often.”

The Seattle-based incubator was created in 2014 by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen and AI researcher Dr. Oren Etzioni to support AI-centered innovation. With the support of PhDs, researchers and engineers, AI2 launches a handful of startups every year, some of which include Blue Canoe, Lexion and Xnor.ai, which was just acquired by Apple for a reported $200 million

“There are very few places in the world where an entrepreneur can go and get access to 150 plus researchers and PhDs,” Colker said. “AI2 is one of the few places in the world where you can get the talent that is usually locked up at Facebook and Google.”

AI2 is also special because most of its research has been made public through more than 220 papers. 

“We are a nonprofit research organization driving AI forward for the common good. That is our charter, to put that information out into the world,” Colker said. "We believe that the next wave of big, important tech companies will be AI-first companies.” 

Colker says this $10 million will serve as “rocket fuel” for AI2. The incubator can now invest even more money in the startups they want to grow, hire more experts and spend more time doing in-depth research to get these early-stage companies to better proof points.

This most recent funding isn’t just good news for AI2 or even AI in general. Colker says this is a good sign for Seattle as a whole. The city’s tech scene has grown tremendously in the last few years, with giants like Microsoft, Amazon and Google establishing or expanding offices there. More than $3 billion in venture capital funding was given to Seattle-area companies last year alone.

“This is an exploding moment for Seattle,” Colker said. “You have no idea what is happening in Seattle right now, really. The big ideas that are being developed here will come out over the next five years. There is an amazing momentum here.”

Until then, Colker and the rest of the AI2 team will continue pushing the boundaries of AI-centered tech, steadily altering the future of Seattle and the world.

“Getting to work with visionary entrepreneurs who are a bit crazy is exactly the way I want to spend my time,” Colker said. “In the future I want to be able to drive around Seattle with my son in the passenger seat, pointing out all the amazing companies we helped create.”

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