Gradient Ventures
About Gradient Ventures
Gradient is the seed fund designed for founders in AI. Per Crunchbase, Gradient has made 336 investments, 162 as lead investor across 215 portfolio companies, with 45 exits.
Google launched Gradient Ventures in 2017. Anna Patterson, a Google engineering executive and Cuil co-founder, was its founder and managing partner. She left at the end of 2023, according to PitchBook. Gradient has since spun out of Alphabet and operates as an independent firm. Google is now one of several limited partners. The March 2026 announcement of its fifth fund says the firm has twelve professionals. Zachary Bratun-Glennon is managing partner. Darian Shirazi, formerly CEO of Radius, is a general partner. Andrew Brackin joined as a partner in early 2024 after roles as a founder or operator at Jobr, Newfront and Vial.
Gradient invests only in AI. Its stated focus is applications, agentic platforms and real-world systems augmented with AI. It describes itself as taking early bets and leading rounds. Its team is made up of former operators and engineers. The firm says it has backed more than 500 AI founders. It has led seed rounds in CentML, Krea, Lambda, Range, Streamlit and Writer. Streamlit was acquired by Snowflake and CentML by NVIDIA. In March 2026 the firm closed Fund 5 at $220 million, which brings assets under management to nearly $1.2 billion across five funds. Gradient has not published the sizes of the earlier four funds. A June 2025 SEC filing had put the target for Fund 5 at $200 million.
Gradient invests at pre-seed and seed. Brackin has said the team leads rounds from pre-seed through Series A. The firm does not publish a check size range. In 2017, Patterson told CNBC the fund would typically commit $1 million to $8 million per deal. Third-party databases give wider and inconsistent ranges. Treat those as estimates, and confirm current sizing with the team.
- Streamlit: open-source app framework for data and ML work; Gradient led its seed round; acquired by Snowflake.
- CentML: Gradient led its seed round; acquired by NVIDIA.
- Lambda, Krea, Range, Writer: Gradient led seed rounds in each, per the Fund 5 announcement.
- Monogram: Seed, $40M (2026-06), on the Lounge deals desk.
- Larridin: Seed, $17M (2026-10), on the Lounge deals desk.
- Sapiom: Seed, $15.8M (2026-02), on the Lounge deals desk.
- Arga Labs: Seed, $10M (2026-08), on the Lounge deals desk.
- Photon: Seed, $4.5M (2026-10), led by Gradient.
- Nango: Seed, $4.5M (2026-03), led by Gradient.
- Pathfinder AI: Seed, $4M (2026-03), led by Gradient.
- Finto: Seed, $3.4M (2026-07), led by Gradient.
- Respan: Seed, $5M (2026-03), led by Gradient.
- businesswire.com/news/home/20260317890946/en/Gradient-Raises-$220M-Fif
- pulse2.com/gradient-220-million-raised-for-ai-seed-fund/amp
- globalventuring.com/corporate/information-technology/google-backed-vc-
- globalventuring.com/corporate/europe/alphabets-investment-arm-gradient
- pitchbook.com/news/articles/alphabets-gradient-ventures-is-raising-200
- cnbc.com/2017/07/10/google-launches-gradient-ventures-to-invest-in-a-i
- x.com/brackin/status/1752376934951166402
- x.com/brackin/status/2033925020679098837
Investing activity
Gradient Ventures appears in 10 AI deals tracked by the Lounge deals desk, rounds totalling $73M, and led 5 of them. The rounds are mostly Seed, with a median round size of $5M and the largest at $40M. The most recent are Photon (Seed, $4.5M, Oct 2026), Larridin (Seed, $17M, Oct 2026) and Arga Labs (Seed, $10M, Aug 2026).
Gradient Ventures most often invests alongside Y Combinator, Charlie Songhurst, Soma Capital and Z Fellows, and the companies it backs on Lounge are mostly in AI.
Deals
Frequently asked questions about Gradient Ventures
Who founded Gradient Ventures?
Google launched it in 2017, with Anna Patterson as founder and managing partner. Patterson left at the end of 2023. Zachary Bratun-Glennon is now managing partner.
How big is Gradient Ventures' latest fund?
Fund 5 closed in March 2026 at $220 million. Gradient now manages nearly $1.2 billion across five funds.
What check size does Gradient Ventures write?
Gradient does not publish a range. In 2017 its founder said typical checks were $1 million to $8 million. Ask the team about current sizing.
Does Gradient Ventures invest at pre-seed?
Yes. The firm focuses on pre-seed and seed AI startups. A partner has said it leads rounds from pre-seed through Series A.
Is Gradient Ventures still part of Google?
No. It has spun out of Alphabet and operates independently. Google remains one of several limited partners in Fund 5.
What AI companies has Gradient Ventures invested in?
Gradient Ventures's AI investments include Photon, Larridin, Arga Labs, Finto, Monogram, Struction, Nango and Pathfinder AI. The 10 rounds on Lounge are listed on this page with amounts, dates and co-investors.
Where is Gradient Ventures based?
Gradient Ventures is based in San Francisco, California, United States.
What stage does Gradient Ventures invest at?
In the rounds tracked on Lounge, Gradient Ventures has invested at Seed, with a median round of $5M. Gradient Ventures led 5 of those rounds.
Who does Gradient Ventures co-invest with?
Gradient Ventures's most frequent co-investors on Lounge are Y Combinator (3 deals), Charlie Songhurst (2 deals), Soma Capital (2 deals), Z Fellows (1 deal) and Llama Ventures (1 deal).
How can founders reach Gradient Ventures?
Founders on Lounge can see Gradient Ventures's contact details in AI Investor Contacts (paid plans), check for a warm introduction through members who worked with the firm under Warm Paths, and add Gradient Ventures to their Investor Pipeline to track the conversation.