Barely five months after Menlo Ventures and Anthropic introduced a new $100 million fund named Anthology Fund, they have supported their inaugural 18 startups and are actively pursuing additional opportunities.

According to Menlo, these initial 18 were chosen from a multitude of entries. They comprise startups focusing on recruitment software; self-governing coding; research into interpretability (comprehending model decision-making processes); fintech compliance and tax solutions; apps for radiology image assessment and chart examination; cybersecurity for non-human identities; software enhancing customer interaction; and an app regarding consumer nutrition. Furthermore, Menlo mentions there are eight more, still operating in stealth mode, that have been incorporated into the program.

This initiative resembles a blend of a standard corporate startup program (akin to Nvidia’s Inception or Microsoft for Startups), where entrepreneurs receive usage credits and learning tools, and an incubator providing enterprise building assistance and financing. The fund will offer investments starting from $100,000 into ventures — from pre-seed stage to Series B— and supply them $25,000 in credits for Anthropic’s models.

Menlo, being a significant investor in Anthropic, employs this fund as a means to position themselves centrally in the forthcoming AI evolution anticipated in 2025: transitioning from foundational models and AI infrastructure to the innovative apps utilizing them.

“We consider ourselves one of the foremost investors in Anthropic and are ardent supporters of their efforts,” shared Tim Tully, Menlo Ventures partner, with TechCrunch when the initiative was inaugurated in July. “We perceived this as a chance for us to collaborate, identify the ecosystem, and discover outstanding firms developing on Anthropic or generally in AI.”