Yang Likun Establishes VC Firm 224 Ventures with Over $100 Million in Assets Under Management

Former Meta Chief AI Scientist Yang Likun and Oriol Vinyals, former co-technical lead of Gemini, have joined the newly established AI venture capital firm 224 Ventures, which manages over $100 million in assets. The fund is operated by Shaun Johnson, the former founder of AIX Ventures. 224 primarily invests in early-stage AI companies, focusing on areas such as AI applications, robotics, infrastructure, and model technology, with individual investments ranging from $1 million to $5 million, targeting companies with valuations below $100 million. The fund typically participates in follow-on investments and does not lead rounds. The core early-stage fund under 224 aims for a target size of $81 million and has already raised over $30 million, with existing managed assets also including funds previously directed towards growth-stage AI companies through specialized investment vehicles. Once the core fund's fundraising is completed, 224's total management scale is expected to reach at least $150 million. Yang Likun will continue to focus on AMI Labs, while Vinyals has also founded an AI company, Discovery Loop. Both Yang and Vinyals will participate in project sourcing, technology assessment, and voting decisions, while Johnson is responsible for the fund's daily operations. The fund's investors largely come from the AI industry, including researchers, tech company executives, and entrepreneurs.