Betaworks, with a history of investing in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), has showcased its confidence in the field through its recent cohort for the Camp “thematic accelerator.” The company’s CEO, John Borthwick, emphasized their keen interest in AI as a tool for augmentation rather than a standalone product.
This Camp cohort attracted twice the number of applicants compared to the previous year, indicating a growing diversity of interest in AI. Borthwick anticipates a surge in companies building and utilizing AI models to enhance human workflows and behaviors over the next few years.
Betaworks’ focus on AI and ML began in 2016 and has evolved to address AI’s role in enhancing human workflows. The selected companies in the cohort reflect this approach, aiming to accelerate and improve existing processes rather than reinvent the wheel.
The selected startups will each receive $500,000 in funding, and Betaworks’ three co-investors—Greycroft, Differential, and Mozilla—will contribute co-investments and resources to support the startups.
Here’s a summary of the companies in the cohort:
Armilla Assurance: Offers insurance against losses resulting from AI systems performing below expected levels. The company assesses AI risk and quality using industry standards and proprietary testing methods.
Bionic Health: Provides preventive healthcare using an AI-driven model trained on real-world medical data. The company aims to make electronic health record systems smarter and more efficient.
Deftly: Offers an ML platform to synthesize customer feedback and signals for actionable product changes and improvements.
Globe: Creates large language models to assist teams in comprehending complex information and data for large-scale studies and product development.
GroupLang: Develops software that enables large language models to interact with groups of people collectively.
Open Souls: Aims to create conversational AI models with rich inner monologues, emotions, and personalities to simulate real people.
Pangaea: Uses AI and custom tech to speed up game development and handle time-consuming tasks, such as creating procedurally-generated maps.
Plastic Labs: Focuses on securely managing the flow of personal psychological data between users and AI models for personalized customization across various agents.
Shader: Offers a no-code social camera app that allows users to create AR filters using voice commands and simple interactions.
Unakin: Aims to speed up development time with AI code assistants, starting with a UI programming agent for building game interfaces.
Vera: Helps workplaces adopt AI by filtering inputs and outputs from AI models according to company-defined rules.
Waverly: A “social network of ideas” that uses AI to remix ideas and employs conversational AI to control users’ content feeds.
The focus on augmentation and enhancement rather than creating entirely new AI products aligns with Betaworks’ vision of AI as a tool to improve and streamline existing processes.
