Our investment in Together AI & the *new* AI infra
Announcing our investment in Together AI's $102.5M Series B
We’ve been investing in AI-first software for more than a decade at Emergence, exemplified by our early investment in Chorus.ai (sold in 2021 for $575M). The early AI-first companies built their AI tech stacks from scratch. Today, as powerful generative AI foundational models have been made publicly available, new companies are adopting AI into their existing workflows and software applications faster than ever before. Companies, including several in our portfolio like Doximity, Ironclad, and Saleo, have been experimenting with these foundational models and LLMs across numerous facets of their operations, from deploying AI copilots to using AI to power key internal workflows and customer interactions.
As enterprises become more innovative (and sophisticated) with their use of LLMs, they are realizing that they want more ownership and control over the AI models they use. Enterprises can’t rely solely on closed models like OpenAI’s GPT-4, which are black boxes with no defensibility. It’s our belief that the most sophisticated enterprises will leverage tens if not hundreds of AI models simultaneously, including proprietary models they pre-train from scratch, open source models fine-tuned to their specific needs, and closed models.
To facilitate the surge in enterprise AI adoption, we need a new AI infrastructure stack that is focused on speed, cost-effectiveness, transparency, security, and control of your proprietary data/IP.
For more on what we believe this infrastructure should look like, read the full piece.
Why we just invested in Together AI and its version of the future
To that end, we’re proud to announce our investment in Together AI’s $102.5M Series B round. Together’s platform gives enterprises the power to create their own AI models, refine existing ones, and seamlessly put them into action. With a stellar team led by industry experts Chris Ré, Percy Liang, Vipul Ved Prakash, Ce Zhang, and Tri Dao, their top-tier AI expertise is among the best in the business.
Our investment underscores our commitment to a future where AI adoption is smooth and transparent and puts businesses in the driver's seat.
More from the EmCap team: Our framework for where GenAI will change healthcare first (based on 25+ expert interviews)
While we’re here, we wanted to share a recent piece on healthcare and AI from Emergence General Partner, Kevin Spain and Associate Kyle Murphy.
Healthcare in the U.S. stands at a crucial juncture. Costs are soaring, and life expectancy is lagging. At the same time, Generative AI technology is driving innovation that can lower healthcare costs and improve outcomes.
At Emergence, we've been investing in healthcare-focused B2B software for more than two decades, and we think there's no greater time than now for founders to build at this intersection.
But what are all of the implications of building in this tricky industry? And where are the most promising opportunities? To help, we spoke with more than 25 experts at Mayo Clinic, Doximity, Veeva Systems, Benchling, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Assort Health, League, and more. The result is a practical framework for founders on how to evaluate the most promising opportunities in healthcare and AI for payers, providers, and life science.
EmCap in the news: Jake Saper talks AI on Bloomberg
Earlier this month, General Partner Jake Saper joined Bloomberg live from New York to discuss AI strategies amid the AI boom. Watch the interview below 👇