Gradient Ventures

Gradient Ventures is a Mountain View-based venture capital firm founded by Google in 2017 as its dedicated AI-focused seed fund, operating as an independent entity since October 2025 after spinning out from Alphabet's direct investment umbrella, and which has backed more than 500 AI founders and 315 companies since its founding, with total assets under management of approximately $1.2 billion across five successive funds. The firm's most recent fund, a $220 million fifth vehicle closed in March 2026, reflects both sustained conviction in AI investing and the firm's expanded LP base following its independence from Google. Gradient invests at pre-seed and seed stages with initial checks from $100,000 to $10 million, focusing on AI-native companies across applications, infrastructure, agentic platforms, and real-world systems. Managing Partners include Zachary Bratun-Glennon and Darian Shirazi. Portfolio companies include Streamlit, the data science visualization tool acquired by Snowflake; CentML, the AI software acceleration company acquired by NVIDIA; Cape, the AI-powered privacy mobile platform; Krea, the AI image generation platform; Lambda, the GPU cloud platform for AI developers; and Writer, the generative AI platform for enterprise writing. Note: the original directory lists Joonko, Mero, Luminar, and Cape. Joonko wound down in 2023; Luminar Technologies is primarily associated with Peter Thiel as an early backer. Beyond its original investments, Gradient's portfolio spans 500+ AI companies.