A new venture capital fund, boasting significant connections to OpenAI, has successfully achieved its initial close, moving towards its $100 million target, as confirmed by its founders to TechCrunch. The partners have already begun deploying capital through initial investments.
Named "Zero Shot," a nod to a key AI training concept, the fund's co-founding team comprises several original members from OpenAI, who transitioned into venture capital roles somewhat unexpectedly.
Three of the founding partners originate from OpenAI. Evan Morikawa, who previously led applied engineering during the launches of DALL·E and ChatGPT via Codex, is currently with the robotics startup Generalist. Andrew Mayne, recognized as OpenAI’s inaugural prompt engineer and host of The OpenAI podcast, also established Interdimensional, an AI deployment consultancy. Shawn Jain, an engineer and former researcher at OpenAI, later became a venture capitalist and is the founder of his own generative AI startup, Synthefy.
These OpenAI alums are joined by experienced VC Kelly Kovacs, who was a founding partner at 01A, the growth-stage venture firm co-founded by Dick Costello and Adam Bain. The fund's fifth founding member is Brett Rounsaville, previously with Twitter and Disney, who also serves as CEO of Mayne’s Interdimensional.
Mayne informed TechCrunch that the OpenAI alums have "been friends for years," having collaborated at the prominent AI model developer from its pre-ChatGPT era through its period of explosive growth.
Following their departures from OpenAI, the group consistently received requests for consultation on emerging AI technologies from venture capitalists, as well as advice from founder friends. This demand ultimately motivated Mayne to establish his consulting firm.
"Some of our friends were coming out of OpenAI and interested in doing companies," Mayne stated.
The alums identified significant discrepancies between the numerous AI startups receiving funding and the actual demands of the market.
Recalling their decision, Mayne explained, "Maybe we should do our own fund, because we think we have a pretty good sense of where things are headed, and we have this great access to people who we think are incredible builders."
Following discussions with institutional investors and family offices, and securing the initial $20 million, the partners subsequently targeted an ambitious $100 million for their inaugural fund. They have already committed capital to several ventures.
Zero Shot's portfolio includes Worktrace AI, a startup founded by former OpenAI product manager Angela Jiang. Worktrace AI is developing an AI-powered management software platform designed to assist enterprises in automating tasks by first identifying optimal automation opportunities. Pitchbook estimates that Worktrace AI secured a $10 million seed round, with notable investors including Mira Murati and OpenAI’s Fund.
The fund also made an investment in Foundry Robotics, a startup focused on advanced, AI-enhanced factory robotics, which recently closed a $13.5 million seed round led by Khosla Ventures. Zero Shot has additionally invested in a third startup, currently operating in stealth mode.
The founders of Zero Shot assert that their understanding of AI's trajectory surpasses that of many traditional venture capitalists. This insight not only aids them in selecting promising startups but also in discerning which ideas to bypass.
Mayne, for example, expresses skepticism regarding most forms of "vibe coding," anticipating that core model developers, with their inherent coding capabilities, will rapidly diminish the perceived value and necessity of subscriptions to such platforms.
Morikawa conveyed to TechCrunch that, drawing upon his extensive background in AI and robotics, he is not enthusiastic about the current proliferation of "ergo-centric video data companies" within the robotics sector, which are startups focused on embodiment training data for robots.
Regarding such video data, Morikawa commented, "There’s a lot of hoping and praying going on right now that someone in the research world will figure out how to transfer the embodiment gap," but he firmly believes "that’s nowhere near possible."
Mayne harbors similar skepticism towards most startups developing "digital twins." His due diligence, which involved constructing a reasoning model to evaluate them, led him to conclude that a standard LLM model performs equally effectively.
"There is a real skill in knowing how to predict where these models will be going next, because it’s extremely not obvious. It’s not linear," Morikawa emphasized.
Beyond its investing founders, Zero Shot has enlisted several prominent figures as advisors, who will receive a share of the fund's "carried interest." These advisors include Diane Yoon, formerly OpenAI’s head of people; Steve Dowling, who previously led communications at both OpenAI and Apple; and Luke Miller, a former product leader at OpenAI.
The Editorial Staff at AIChief is a team of professional content writers with extensive experience in AI and marketing. Founded in 2025, AIChief has quickly grown into the largest free AI resource hub in the industry.