OpenAI alums have been quietly investing from a new, potentially $100M fund

A newly established venture capital fund, closely linked to the pioneers of OpenAI, has successfully reached its initial fundraising goal of $100 million, as confirmed by its founders. Named Zero Shot, a term that references a specific AI training methodology, the fund's founding team consists of several notable figures from OpenAI who have transitioned into the world of venture capital by chance. Among the three co-founders are Evan Morikawa, the ex-head of applied engineering during the launch of DALL·E and ChatGPT, who is now involved with a robotics startup called Generalist; Andrew Mayne, known for his role as OpenAI’s first prompt engineer and the host of The OpenAI podcast; and Shawn Jain, a former OpenAI researcher turned venture capitalist and founder of the GenAI startup Synthefy. They are joined by Kelly Kovacs, a previous founding partner at the growth-stage firm 01A, and Brett Rounsaville, who has held positions at Twitter and Disney, currently serving as CEO at Mayne's Interdimensional. The founders share a long-standing friendship, having collaborated at OpenAI during some of its most transformative years. Their post-OpenAI journeys led them to frequently advise venture capitalists on emerging AI technologies and provide guidance to fellow entrepreneurs. This prompted Mayne to establish his consulting firm, as he recognized a significant gap between the burgeoning AI startups and the actual market demands. Reflecting on their decision to form a venture fund, Mayne stated, "We believed we had a solid understanding of the future direction of AI and access to remarkable builders in the industry." After securing initial commitments from institutions and family offices, they closed the first $20 million and set their sights on an ambitious $100 million target. They have already made several investments, including backing Angela Jiang, a former OpenAI product manager, and her startup Worktrace AI, which focuses on AI-driven enterprise task automation. Additionally, Zero Shot has invested in Foundry Robotics, a company specializing in next-generation AI-enhanced factory automation, which recently completed a $13.5 million seed round led by Khosla Ventures. Another investment has been made in a stealth startup, with details yet to be disclosed. The founders assert that their deep understanding of AI enables them to select promising startups while also steering clear of less viable ideas. For instance, Mayne expresses skepticism about certain trends, such as vibe coding, predicting that model creators will soon render subscriptions to such services unnecessary. Morikawa also shares reservations about current robotics startups focused on video data for embodiment training, deeming their methodologies overly optimistic. Furthermore, Mayne's investigations into 'digital twins' have led him to conclude that traditional large language models can achieve similar results without the complexity. As Morikawa noted, understanding the unpredictable trajectory of AI is essential for making informed investment decisions. Alongside the founding team, Zero Shot has also enlisted several notable advisors, including Diane Yoon, former head of people at OpenAI, and Steve Dowling, former head of communications at OpenAI and Apple, who will benefit from the fund’s future successes.