Menlo Ventures, a venture capital firm that actively invests in AI startups, has recently announced the first cohort of 18 companies for their $100 million Anthology Fund. This fund was launched in partnership with Anthropic and aims to support AI-first startups by providing them with capital and access to Anthropic’s AI technology.
The selected companies come from various sectors, including research, finance, healthcare, security, and CRM. Out of the 18, eight are currently operating in stealth mode. According to Deedy Das, general partner at Menlo Ventures, the focus of VC investments in AI is shifting from foundational layers such as hardware and models to delivering real-world value through transformative end-user applications.
The Anthology Fund was launched in July 2024 and has already invested in several seed-stage startups. In addition to capital, the fund also provides selected startups with access to Anthropic’s latest models, along with $25,000 worth of free credits. The aim of the fund is not just to invest, but also to build a community of pioneers who are using Anthropic’s technology to make a positive impact on human lives.
Menlo Ventures has been a long-time investor in Anthropic and participated in their $450 million Series C round last year. In November, Anthropic also received a $4 billion investment from Amazon. Recently, Menlo Ventures released a report titled “2024: The State of Generative AI in the Enterprise”, which revealed that AI coding applications are leading the pack in terms of the value of AI use cases. This was followed by support chatbots, enterprise search, and data extraction.
Both Google and a16z have also shared their visions and trends for startups and businesses in 2025. Google is betting on multimodal AI, agents, and enterprise search, while also stating that AI will enhance security systems and help identify and combat threats. A16z, on the other hand, is focusing on biotech startups and AI models in healthcare, and predicts that new UI/UX paradigms will emerge for AI-powered software.
The full list of ideas for 2025 includes contributions from 50 a16z partners. The Anthology Fund and the investments made by Menlo Ventures and other firms show the growing interest and potential of AI in various industries. With the support of these funds and partnerships, AI startups have the opportunity to make a significant impact in the coming years.
