Alpha Intelligence Capital (AIC), an investor in AI companies like OpenAI, is raising a $250 million fund, with backing from government entities in France and Singapore.
AIC has already secured $160 million for its second fund and aims to complete fundraising by September, according to partners Arnaud Barthelemy and Terry Chou. France’s Bpifrance, Taiwan’s CDIB Capital Group, and a Singapore state-run fund are among the contributors.
The new fund is operational and has made early investments in ChatGPT creator OpenAI and computing architecture startup FlexAI. Based in Luxembourg, AIC is betting on the continued rapid adoption of AI globally, driven by popular services like ChatGPT.
Temasek Holdings, Singapore’s state-owned fund, is reportedly an investor, although AIC’s partners did not confirm this, and Temasek declined to comment. AIC is also in talks with two other sovereign investors and a global backer to finalize the fund.
AIC’s previous investments include Chinese AI developer SenseTime Group, which it has mostly exited. The first fund also backed AI startups that were later acquired by Apple, IBM, and BioNTech, Chou said, who is based in AIC’s Asia headquarters in Singapore.
Venture capital firms are raising billions globally to support technologies like generative AI, which powers chatbots such as ChatGPT, Google’s Gemini, and Microsoft’s Copilot. These investors anticipate that AI tools will revolutionize traditional business practices and address technology challenges.
However, Barthelemy noted that rising interest in AI can lead to inflated valuations for startups without clear monetization strategies.
“Our investors are confident that AI will greatly influence their businesses across all sectors, and this is only the beginning,” Barthelemy said. “They rely on our expertise to navigate the AI hype.”
Chou added that the fund will target companies across the AI value chain, including hardware startups, with a focus on applications in cybersecurity and gaming, and will invest globally, excluding China.