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

A team of OpenAI veterans, including former head of applied engineering Evan Morikawa and original prompt engineer Andrew Mayne, have launched the Zero Shot venture capital fund. Named after the AI training term, the fund has secured its first $20 million toward a $100 million goal. The founding partners, who worked together through OpenAI's explosive growth period, were inspired to start the fund after being constantly consulted by VCs and founders seeking their unique insights into the AI landscape.

Zero Shot has already begun deploying capital, backing early-stage companies like Worktrace AI, an enterprise automation platform founded by ex-OpenAI product manager Angela Jiang, and Foundry Robotics, which is developing AI-enhanced factory robots. The fund's strategy is defined by its founders' deep technical expertise, allowing them to identify genuine innovation while steering clear of what they see as overhyped areas. For instance, Mayne is skeptical of most 'vibe coding' startups, believing core model makers will quickly outpace them, and Morikawa is cautious about robotics companies focused solely on embodiment training data.