Grace Isford, Lux Capital | Computer Science is 'So Hot Right Now'

NYC's AI Boom, Runway, Hugging Face, Sakana AI, Together AI

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I’m so excited to share this conversation with our brilliant, longtime friend, Grace Isford, Partner at Lux Capital, & 2024 Forbes 30U30 in VC.

Grace joined Lux in 2022, and shortly after was named the youngest partner in the firm's history. Grace invests in companies innovating at the nexus of the computational sciences. Since joining, she has sourced and led 8 of the firm's investments including generative AI video standout Runway (valued at $1.5B), Sakana.ai, Maven AGI and LangChain. Before Lux, Isford was a principal at Canvas Ventures, where she sourced $100 million in deployed capital and worked with 10 portfolio companies. 

We go deep on her thesis on computational sciences, the current AI Landscape, her investment thesis on New York City's AI sector, and implementing AI in companies. Grace discusses the potential and challenges of AI agents, the current state of the technology as well as the companies making progress in this space. She also provides practical advice on how companies can implement AI, emphasizing the importance of defining your goals, finding the right tools, and proving value.

Is it time to invest in AI? You might be surprised. Listen to Grace’s insights and perspectives on the current investment climate and where opportunities lie in the evolving AI landscape, highlighting the potential and challenges of infrastructure and application companies.

We get into:

• Runway’s $1.5B Valuation

• How HuggingFace Makes Money?

• Lux’s Technical Diligence Process

• Grace’s Sourcing

• NYC AI > SF

• Viral Market Map Strategies

→ Resources, 11 of Lux’s Big AI Hits, NYC AI Map, AI Research & More Below

Lux Capital

Co-Founded by Peter Hébert & Josh Wolfe over 20 years ago, Lux is based in NYC, with an presence in SF. They’ve raised ~$1.2B for their most recent fund, amassing over $5B AUM to date, with 200+ portfolio companies, and more than 30 full-time professionals. Their team has a wide spectrum of technical backgrounds with the versatility to invest at any stage, from $100,000 to $100 million.

Lux focuses on Biology + Biochemistry, Chemistry + Material Science, Engineering + Electronics, Infrastructure + Computer Science, as well as Physics + Aerospace. Known for high profile investments into Anduril, Hadrian, Applied Intuition, Benchling, Ramp, Eikon Therapeutics, and more.

NYC AI

In April 2024, Grace launched the infamous callout for NYC AI talent with the NYC AI Directory & AI Map. Based on the numbers, talent migration, and companies taking advantage of this growth & technological opportunity, NYC is officially on the AI map. You don’t need to move to SF to get skin in the game.

• The Great Talent Dividend & NYC’s AI Opportunity [Lux Capital]

  • NYC x AI Company Database

11 of Lux’s Big AI Hits

1. Runway: Specializes in AI-powered video editing tools and generative AI for video content creation. It recently raised $141 million in funding, bringing its valuation to $1.5 billion as of June 2023​ - in July Runway was reported to be raising $450 million in new funding on a $4 billion valuation [SiliconANGLE, Reuters].

2. LangChain: Develops an open-source framework for building large language model applications. It raised $25 million in a Series A round in February 2024, bringing its total funding to $35 million​ [Tracxn, VentureBeat].

3. Sakana AI: Nature-inspired AI models, particularly for autonomous scientific research. As of June 2024, it raised $100 million in a Series A round, reaching a $1 billion valuation​ [PitchBook, Nikkei Asia].

   • OpenAI’s Japanese Rival Gets $1 Billion Valuation From Silicon Valley Investors

4. Together AI: Cloud-based platform that specializes in developing and deploying open-source generative AI models. It recently raised $106 million in a funding round led by Salesforce Ventures, pushing its valuation to $1.25 billion​ [Tech Startups, SiliconANGLE].