Mayfield Fund, a 55-year-old venture capital firm, recently launched the ambitious "AI Garage" project, aiming to support artificial intelligence startups committed to creating "AI partner" companies. The program, with a total budget of up to $100 million, is designed to help early-stage entrepreneurs turn their ideas into bankable projects and expands Mayfield’s four-decade-old Entrepreneurship in Residence (EIR) program. The AI Garage program is different from other accelerator programs in that it will recruit up to five entrepreneurs every six months, provide in-company guidance and support, and provide financial support of US$1 million to US$5 million once the business plan is mature.
Mayfield Fund, a venture capital firm with a history of 55 years, recently announced the launch of a project called AI Garage to specifically provide support for startups who want to create "AI partner" companies, with a total project budget of up to US$100 million. .
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Navin Chaddha, Mayfield’s managing partner, said the new program is designed to help early-stage entrepreneurs turn their ideas into bankable companies, further expanding the “entrepreneurial residency” that Mayfield has been implementing for the past four decades. Researcher Initiative” (EIR).
The AI Garage hopes to be structurally different compared to other accelerators like Y Combinator or some pre-seed programs. Mayfield plans to recruit up to five aspiring entrepreneurs every six months to receive mentoring and support in the company's offices. Chadha emphasized that while participants will not receive immediate funding when starting out, Mayfield will provide financial support ranging from $1 million to $5 million once their business plans are formed.
Chadha mentioned that Mayfield chose to formalize and expand the EIR project mainly to gain early access to AI application startups, especially in the field of "AI partners." He explained that AI companions are more than simple assistants, they can collaborate with humans to complete complex tasks. In other words, AI companions are digital companions that can enhance human capabilities to superhuman levels, taking us into a new era of collaborative intelligence.
While the terms "partner," "assistant" and "agent" are used somewhat interchangeably, Chadha believes that calling AI applications "partners" is more humane in marketing. Chadha further pointed out that there are endless opportunities for AI partners to collaborate with humans to drive the future development of the workplace, involving product and engineering, data, sales and marketing, customer service, IT and security, finance, human resources, legal and administration, etc. fields.
It is worth mentioning that Mayfield has invested in nearly ten AI partner companies, including DevRev (customer service support AI), Docket (AI sales engineer) and NeuBird (site reliability AI engineer). Taking NeuBird as an example, its AI can help human site reliability engineers detect site failures and handle problems in a timely manner. If AI cannot solve the problem, it will also contact human engineers to handle it, reflecting the true meaning of "partner".
Highlight:
Mayfield launched the AI Garage project to support start-ups in creating "AI partner" companies with a budget of up to $100 million.
? Participants will receive financial support from US$1 million to US$5 million after the business plan is formed to help them turn their ideas into financing projects.
Considered to be digital companions capable of collaborating with humans, AI companions will advance the workplace across multiple industries.
All in all, Mayfield's AI Garage project provides strong financial and guidance support to AI start-ups, which not only accelerates the innovative development of the emerging field of "AI partners", but also heralds a new chapter in human-machine collaboration in the future. This huge investment will have a profound impact on the artificial intelligence industry and deserves continued attention.