Google and Twitter invest in the same startup

Nathan Benaich, the founder of venture capital firm Air Street Capital, caught the eye of Google (Nasdaq: Demokratie) AI boss, Twitter Inc. (NYSE: TWTR), and Supercell founder.

Last week, Benaich announced that he had secured $ 17 million in new funding from some big names to invest in AI startups in the US and Europe. Benaich has been in the venture capital and AI world for more than a decade and, unlike most VCs, has got a grip on the latest AI development and the companies behind it. Before that he worked for the risk company Playfair in London and Point Nine Capital in Berlin. Benaich was also a seed investor in Swedish company Mapillary, which collected images of streets to create digital maps, and was recently acquired by Facebook for an undisclosed fee. Playfair also invested in Jukedeck, which was acquired by ByteDance in July 2019.

The Benaich Fund invests in startups that combine AI expertise and industry-specific knowledge in the consumer, corporate and life science industries. Some of the fund's investments include Anagenex, Allcyte, Graphcore, LabGenius, Intenseye, V7 Labs, Mission Barns and ZOE. Benaich said everyone is aware that there is a huge investment opportunity in AI, but very few investors know what the best early stage AI firms are like. Andrew Trask, senior AI lab DeepMind research scientist, said of the VCs he understands that Nathan's is one of the best-informed about AI.

Trask said he has always been impressed with Nathan's insights into AI. However, Benaich has not yet supported a startup that has developed into a multi-billion-dollar success story against which VCs should be measured. According to a VC who chose to remain anonymous because of the sensitivity of the discussions, Benaich does not have a decent investment track record. The VC said the big names that invest in its VC do so because of its work ethic, personality and expertise.