Menlo Ventures, a trailblazer in venture capital investment, has selected the first cohort of 18 companies to benefit from its $100 million Anthology Fund. Created in collaboration with Anthropic, a leader in AI safety and research, the fund aims to spearhead AI-first innovation across various industries. 

Since its establishment earlier this year and announcement in July, the Anthology Fund has drawn thousands of applications from global entrepreneurs, reflecting the vibrant potential in AI technology development.

The diverse group of 18 startups spans sectors including research, finance, healthcare, consumer products, security, and customer relationship management, underscoring the expansive influence of AI in transforming traditional industries.

Research

• Mercor – Mercor is training models that predict job performance better than a human can. Their technology is trusted by customers ranging from startups making their first hires to the largest AI labs hiring thousands of experts to train LLMs.
• All Hands – All Hands AI is an open-source AI platform for autonomous software engineering development, powered by AI and LLMs.
• Goodfire – Goodfire is an applied research lab building AI interpretability tools.

Finance

• Crosswise – Crosswise is a self-building compliance management system for banks and fintechs.
• Accordance – Accordance is an AI platform built for leading tax, audit, and CPA teams.

Healthcare

• Brellium – Brellium automates chart review with clinical-validated AI.
• New Lantern – New Lantern accelerates radiology with cloud- and AI-powered medical image analysis.

Consumer

• Alma – Alma is an AI-native nutrition app.

Security

• Astrix – Astrix is the leader in non-human identity security.

CRM

• BeHeard – BeHeard reimagines feedback by transforming boring surveys into continuous, heart-to-heart conversations with brands.

In addition to the companies named above, the first batch of Anthology Fund-backed companies includes eight stealth startups.

Matt Murphy, a Partner at Menlo Ventures, expressed his enthusiasm for the selected startups: “The inaugural cohort embodies our vision for the Anthology Fund, demonstrating the transformative potential of AI in sectors from healthcare to finance. These companies are pioneers in their respective fields, leveraging frontier AI technology to drive significant advancements.”

Deedy Das, Principal at Menlo Ventures, noted the strategic shift in AI investment towards applications that deliver tangible benefits to end-users. “Anthropic’s AI models, particularly Claude 3.5 Sonnet, have shown exceptional capabilities in enterprise settings, speeding up processes that traditionally took much longer,” said Das.

Alex Albert, Head of Developer Relations at Anthropic, emphasized the collaborative nature of the partnership: “Working together with Menlo Ventures enables us to provide startups with the tools they need to succeed, from compute credits to expert guidance, fostering a rich ecosystem for AI innovation.”

The Anthology Fund continues to support the growth of AI-first companies, aiming to drive the next wave of innovation in the AI space. This initiative by Menlo Ventures and Anthropic showcases their commitment to advancing the field of AI, not only through financial support but also by enabling practical, real-world applications of emerging technologies.