Final yr, Sound Ventures, the 9-year-old, Beverly Hills, California-based enterprise agency led by basic companions Ashton Kutcher, Man Oseary, and Effie Epstein, introduced a brand new $265 million AI fund that was betting huge on giant language mannequin firms, together with OpenAI, Anthropic, and Hugging Face.
In actual fact, the plan was to put money into simply six firms — a dangerous however doubtlessly profitable wager on the crew’s imaginative and prescient of the long run, the place, due to the technical expertise required and the capital wanted to cowl compute prices, the most important winners in AI might be few and big.
Sound has since raised more cash for that very same fund. It additionally seems to have caught to its mission, judging by the few offers it has publicly disclosed in 2024, and we’re thrilled to be internet hosting all three at TechCrunch Disrupt 2024 to dish about their technique — together with the traits they’re monitoring proper now.
Kutcher has maybe made the transition between the worlds of appearing and investing extra seamlessly than anybody else in Hollywood, beginning on his enterprise path in 2010 with the launch of A-Grade Investments with expertise supervisor and enterprise companion Man Oseary, whose early bets on Airbnb and Uber helped cement their popularity for stepping into the fitting offers on the proper time.
The 2, who went on to discovered Sound Ventures in 2014, introduced aboard Epstein a number of years later to enhance their very own talent units. Epstein beforehand led international technique on the Marsh & McLennan subsidiary Marsh. She additionally served as SVP of planning and head of investor relations at iHeartMedia, and earlier than that, she labored in enterprise growth at Clear.
Epstein additionally beforehand labored in funding banking within the power sector, bringing a various set of experiences and contacts to the desk.
You positively don’t need to miss this hearth on the Disrupt Stage, the place you’ll be among the many 10,000 tech, startup, and VC leaders attending Disrupt 2024. Register at the moment to lock in your ticket value earlier than it goes up on the door.
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