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Editor’s note: This article is part of an ongoing series in which Crunchbase News interviews active investors in artificial intelligence. Read previous interviews with Felicis, Battery Ventures, Bain Capital Ventures, Menlo Ventures, Scale Venture Partners, Costanoa, Citi Ventures, Sierra Ventures and Andrew Ng of AI Fund, as well as highlights from more interviews done in 2023.

Most corporate venture firms steer clear of investing in rivals. But GV (formerly Google Ventures) isn’t most firms. Not only did it back Slack while Google had a competing product, it’s now investing in AI companies that go head-to-head with parent company Alphabet’s own efforts in the artificial intelligence race.

GV’s model — single LP, independent decisions — has allowed it to stay fast and nimble during AI’s most explosive moment. Managing partners Dave Munichiello and Tom Hulme are backing companies across chips, compilers and applications, and making early and late bets alike. GV’s wager is clear: The AI age rewards those who move fast, trust founders and don’t flinch at eye-watering valuations.

We recently spoke with Munichiello, based in Silicon Valley, and Hulme, based in London, who co-lead the digital investment practice globally, about GV’s AI investment approach.

Munichiello was previously at Kiva Systems, which became Amazon Robotics. Hulme has a background in physics and was the design director at Ideo in Europe and an active angel investor before joining then-Google Ventures in 2014.

A frenzied AI gold rush on the West

“It’s an absolutely wild time on the West Coast, in San Francisco. Every weekend is five or six long walks with founders that are getting inundated with AI term sheets,” said Munichiello. “Founders are in houses filled with other AI founders. The buzz is heavy of people getting poached by the Metas or the OpenAIs of the world, while simultaneously fending off those offers and starting their own thing,” he said.

Munichiello and Hulme said they both have middle- and high-school aged children who are using the technology in their everyday lives, to write, digest and summarize complex ideas.

From widespread consumer adoption, there is a drastic push from enterprises to spend to capture this “AI magic.”

Talent competition heats up

“We think about the stack as low as chips and infrastructure, and as high as the application level, and all the different industries that application-level investments are blossoming in,” said Munichiello.

Early GV investments in AI include Lattice Data, which was bought by Apple to power Siri in 2017, video-generation company Synthesia,  and data labeling company Snorkel AI. More recently, it was an investor in Thinking Machines Lab’s record $2 billion seed round at a $12 billion valuation.

GV invests independently of Alphabet, its parent and sole investor. That means it sometimes backs companies that could be seen as competitors to Alphabet-owned products. For example, GV invested in Slack, when Google had a competitive internal product, and Thinking Machines Lab competes with Alphabet’s Gemini.

As to why they invested, Munichiello said they heard from their internal recruiting team that Thinking Machines CEO and co-founder Mira Murati, formerly OpenAI’s CTO, is one of the best recruiters of deeply technical AI talent. “Amazing companies sometimes are at prices that feel very uncomfortable, and that was certainly the case with Thinking Machines,” he added.

Competition for AI research talent is intense, and model performance is quantifiable. That means “for the first time, many of the big companies are competing in the same game. So if you look at Meta, Alphabet or OpenAI, they’re all competing on having cutting-edge foundation models,” Hulme said.

“We’ve never seen companies scale as quickly as the AI-native companies we see today,” he said. “We have not seen talent move as frequently at the foundation model as the amount we’re seeing at the moment.”

The team pays attention to where the smartest researchers are going to work. “They’re not going to Big Tech. They’re going to startups, and they’re all going to San Francisco,” said Munichiello.

App layer

“We’ve been slower to invest in application-layer companies, until we know there’s real traction,” said Munichiello. “If you look at Harvey or OpenEvidence, we didn’t lead the Series A. We led a later-stage round.”

Munichiello said the question they seek to address: “Are these dollars seeking a use case, seeking an application that could be interesting in their company? Or are they locked in production, creating actual value for the company?”

To assess whether revenue is experimental or not, the team spends time understanding customers’ use — is the product beyond proof of concept, is it used daily, does it save millions of dollars in headcount while creating actual value?

In 2024, the firm led the Series C in AI legal tech startup Harvey at a $1.5 billion valuation. The company has since raised two rounds and now has a valuation of $5 billion.

More recently, GV co-led, along with Kleiner Perkins, the Series B in OpenEvidence, an AI-powered platform that helps doctors and other healthcare professionals more easily aggregate and process peer-reviewed medical literature, at a $3.5 billion valuation.

GV also co-led a $40 million Series A investment with New York-based TQ Ventures in London-based online legal platform Lawhive.

“When we look at companies that are coming in to raise, the revenue run rate is insane. These companies are growing incredibly fast, faster than ever before,” said Munichiello. “And it’s very hard to spend a lot of time looking at AI applications companies, and then go back to looking at other companies.”

“We have businesses in our portfolio like Bolt.new [a product of StackBlitz] — they built out the technology and then turned on monetization and went from zero to $40 million ARR in 12 weeks,” said Hulme “We think that’s the new normal.” GV was a co-lead in the startup’s seed round in 2022. The company was not growing meaningfully until October 2024, when it launched bolt.new to code with text prompts in a web browser, which took off.

The invest strategy at the infrastructure level

For the infrastructure layer, the firm’s calculus is different, said Munichiello. “We start to do deep technical work, and see there needs to exist a compiler that is universal, and the company needs a lot of money to get there, and really patient capital. We’re going to lead the first round. We’ll probably lead multiple rounds over time, but this will pay off 100x over time if it’s right — that’s worth deep investment from us.”

To that end, GV led the $30 million seed round in Modular, which seeks to build a unified compute layer to interface with AI hardware. The company has created a universal compiler that is a competitor to Cuda, which enables AMD‘s GPUs to run just as fast as those from Nvidia, said Munichiello. Modular has since raised a $100 million Series B led by General Catalyst.

Multistage, multisector, multigeo investors

GV has been investing for 15 years and has $10 billion in assets under management. The firm is headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices in Cambridge, Massachusetts, New York and London. Its largest exits over time include Uber, Nest Labs, Slack and GitLab, among others.

CEO and managing partner David Krane heads up the team of 21 partners. Alongside Krane, Munichiello and Hulme, the fourth managing partner is Krishna Yeshwant, who is based in Cambridge, and co-leads its life sciences practice with general partner David Schenkein.

Companies meet at least one other partner through the investment process and then usually pitch the entire partnership. Partners share ideas and thoughts with the lead, who then can make an investment decision. The team can move quickly and has been able to close a deal in a week from the first meeting with a founder.

“A and B are the sweet spot,” said Munichiello. “Our job, when we find an area that we’re excited about, is to look at the A and the B. And then to say, ‘Is this the very best way to invest in this category?’”

If the right company is at Series D or seed, the team will do that investment. Team members are not limited by locale, and can invest in the best companies across the world.

Hulme thinks more in terms of cities than countries. “For every great founder you need great operators, maybe five or 10 great operators, and the global pockets of those remain, in my opinion, in San Francisco, New York and London. Those are the cities that we’re most excited about. But we also invest in places like Tel Aviv, which are growing quickly.”

An analog business

“We’re a venture capital business, but we think of this as a human capital business. We’re as good or as bad as the people on the GV team. And interestingly, they are as good or bad or as bad as the humans they’re investing in. It’s a very analog business in that way. It’s just super-powered with technology,” said Hulme.

Munichiello said the firm’s diverse approach and flexibility is key.

“GV is a place where we can have 30 people going in 30 different directions, investing in 30 different things. And we’re not trying to drive consensus,” said Munichiello.

Related Crunchbase list:

Illustration: Dom Guzman

Clarification: This story has changed since its original publication to update the firm’s life sciences practice information.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has taken a step towards formalising its growing esports industry, as government officials and international partners agreed to develop the country’s first national esports policy.

The decision followed a high-level meeting between the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication (MoITT), the Commonwealth Secretariat, and the British Esports Federation. The goal is to craft a policy that supports economic growth, creates job opportunities for young people, and aligns with global standards.

Federal Minister for IT and Telecommunication, Shaza Fatima Khawaja, who chaired the meeting, said the policy aims to turn Pakistan’s emerging game development talent into a competitive global force. “Our youth are already creating games for platforms like SEGA and Nintendo,” she said. “What we lack is commercial access. We need international support to bridge this gap and help our developers scale up.”

The government is proposing a three-pronged strategy: introducing game-tech education and training, supporting youth-led innovation, and promoting the commercialisation of locally developed games.

The meeting also included Chairman of the Prime Minister’s Youth Programme (PMYP), Rana Mashood Ahmed Khan, who called the move a “strategic push” to unlock digital employment potential. “This is a great opportunity to collaborate on game technology and create new economic pathways for our young population,” he said.

Representatives from both the Commonwealth Secretariat and British Esports Federation pledged their support. Layne Robinson, Head of Social Policy, Youth and Gender Development at the Commonwealth, and British Esports Vice President Thomas Dore, were among those present.

The parties agreed to move forward with the creation of a national esports federation and a policy framework that reflects international best practices.

The initiative is seen as part of Pakistan’s wider digital transformation agenda and an attempt to tap into the fast-growing global gaming industry.

Read next: Pakistan’s Systems to acquire British American Tobacco SAA Services

Entertainment technology company Apple iSports Group has agreed to acquire Australia-based gaming and fintech platform provider LBC Enterprises, operator of the Lucky Bet brand.

According to Apple iSports’ website, the company “delivers advanced infrastructure and immersive sports and gaming platforms — powered by strategic tech partnerships.

The business says it is “strategically positioned at the intersection of technology, media, and entertainment — where sports and entertainment are rapidly converging,” and is “tackling today’s digital infrastructure gaps with focused, strategic acquisitions.”

Apple iSports was founded by Australia-based entrepreneur Marino Sussich, and is led by Joe Martinez as chairman and CEO.

Martinez is described by the company as “a key contributor to multiple companies’ funding and IPOs”, who has “served as CEO of several public companies, leading them from startup through management, public offering, and successful sale to private equity firms.”

Apple iSports’ management team is further bolstered by technology veteran Jeremy Samuel as president and director, and seasoned online betting expert Lee Saltzer as COO.

LBC management to remain in place

Meanwhile, Lucky Bet operator LBC Enterprises is led by CEO Ian Parke, who will continue to run the business post-acquistion.

Both Parke and James Tennant will join the board of Apple iSports as directors following completion of the deal, which is expected to close during Q3.

“The proposed acquisition of our company by Apple iSports validates the global opportunity we see in regulated, tech-driven gaming,” Parke commented on the agreement. 

“By combining LBC’s platform and operational expertise with Apple iSports’ capital markets presence and distribution network, we are primed to accelerate our expansion into new markets and scale our white label programme. This partnership represents a major step forward for Lucky Bet and the broader LBC ecosystem.”

Apple iSports CEO Martinez added: “The board of directors is excited to continue rolling out our stated objectives with our proposed acquisition of LBC. Our service offerings to B2B and B2C will now be significantly enhanced in a rapidly growing sector. 

“Combined with our exceptional team, this transaction catapults us into the US and international gaming markets.”

Media reports suggest the deal is valued at $125m.

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In a significant stride towards advancing the science, technology, and innovation (STI) landscape in Jammu & Kashmir, a high-impact Stakeholders Meet was successfully held today at SKUAST-Kashmir, Shalimar. The event was organized by the Northern Region S&T Cluster – PI-RAHI (PU-IIT Ropar Regional Accelerator for Holistic Innovations Foundation) in collaboration with J&K Science & Technology Council, SKUAST Kashmir and IIT Jammu.
The meeting witnessed the presence of eminent dignitaries, government representatives, academic leaders, and innovators from across the region. The Hon’ble Minister for Science & Technology, IT, Youth Services & Sports, and ARI & Trainings, Shri Satish Sharma, graced the occasion as the Chief Guest, while Dr. Shahid Choudary, Scientific Secretary, Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India, joined as the Guest of Honor. Four startups incubated and mentored at SKUAST Kashmir’s SKIEE Center were also launched during the event
In his address, Shri Sharma highlighted the region’s potential to emerge as a hub of innovation and technological excellence and praised the efforts of PI Rahi and SKUAST Kashmir in this direction.
The event commenced with a welcome address by Dr. Nasir Shah, Additional Director, J&K S&T Council, followed by addresses from Ms. Neha Arora, COO, PI-RAHI, and Dr. Jatinder Kaur Arora, Advisor, PI-RAHI, who shared the vision and scope of the regional innovation cluster.
Addressing the gathering, Prof. Nazir Ahmad Ganai, Vice Chancellor, SKUAST-Kashmir, emphasized the critical role of research institutions in nurturing innovations and ensuring technology reach for the farming community and highlighted the role that SKUAST Kashmir is playing in this direction. Dr. Shahid Iqbal Choudhary, Secretary to Government, S&T Department also delivered insightful addresses outlining the state’s commitment to research-led development. The core of the program featured roundtable discussions on key thematic challenges such as tech interventions in rural livelihoods, grassroots innovation, scaling up R&D outputs, and strengthening incubator networks. Dr Ambreen Hamadani, Asst Professor, CAIML conducted the proceedings.
The discussions concluded with concrete recommendations to integrate STI advancements with local developmental needs, enable pilot deployment of field-ready technologies, and establish national linkages for grassroots innovations from J&K. The event concluded with a vote of thanks by Prof Rohitashaw Kumar, Associate Dean COAET, SKUAST Kashmir and a resolve to take the deliberations forward through coordinated action. Participants appreciated the collaborative spirit of the meet and the strategic support from PI-RAHI and partnering institutions.