Gradient is a San Francisco-based venture capital firm that has backed AI-first startups at the seed stage since its founding in 2017. Originally launched as Google's AI-focused venture arm, the firm spun out from Alphabet in October 2025 to operate independently under a new management entity. Over nine years and five funds, Gradient has invested in more than 500 companies and built total assets under management of nearly $1.2 billion.
Gradient invests exclusively in artificial intelligence companies at the earliest stages, across AI infrastructure, applied AI, developer tools, and vertical software built on AI. The firm focuses on founders who are starting with a brand new idea and building AI-native products from the ground up, rather than AI-adjacent or AI-augmented businesses.
Gradient Fund V closed at $220 million in March 2026, bringing the firm's total AUM to nearly $1.2 billion across five funds. The fund continues the firm's seed-stage focus on AI-first companies, with a primary geographic concentration in the SF Bay Area, New York, and Seattle and selective investment in international AI startups.
Fund V marks the firm's first fully independent fundraise following the October 2025 spinout from Alphabet, which expanded the LP base beyond Google for the first time. The fund is Gradient's largest to date and reflects sustained institutional demand for early-stage AI investing despite a competitive seed market.
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