AI2 Incubator Spinoff Gains $200 Million Windfall for Startups’ Early Development
In 2022, the AI2 Incubator, a spinoff of the renowned Allen Institute for AI, made a groundbreaking announcement – they had secured a massive $200 million in compute resources that their program’s startups could utilize to accelerate their early development.
Managing director Jacob Colker explained, “Our community of hundreds of AI practitioners are desperate for compute. A lot of these startups are hindered in their ability to make significant progress and show early traction, simply because they lack the resources to train models beyond the generic API options available in the market.”
Any company belonging to the AI2 Incubator’s portfolio or program now has the opportunity to receive up to $1 million worth of dedicated AI-style compute at data centers owned by a mysterious partner that Colker chose not to name. (However, it is worth noting that the list of companies with $200 million of capacity to spare is quite limited.)
Colker wanted to make it clear that this partner would not receive any preferential treatment or access to the companies, except for the possibility of being their first major compute provider. “There’s a strong spirit of goodwill driving this collaboration, with the shared goal of helping these entrepreneurs reach their revenue goals at a faster pace,” he shared.
For pre-seed startups – the main focus of AI2 – a million dollars of dedicated compute could go a long way. In the past, AI2’s program has helped develop over 30 startups, including WellSaid Labs and Xnor.ai.
“Different companies have different needs, but this isn’t just about cloud credits – we are talking about dedicated machines and custom silicon. To our knowledge, this is the most significant computer allocation available to startups in the market today,” Colker revealed.
The AI2 Incubator has been operating since 2017, but it was not until 2022 that they officially became an independent entity, separate from the Seattle research institute. Through the years, they have helped build numerous successful startups and in the previous year, raised a sizable $30 million fund to continue their mission.
