Key Takeaways
- • Taiwan-based Ondine Capital announced the first close of Fund III, its third US dollar-denominated venture fund, with commitments from institutional and strategic limited partners including several leading Taiwanese semiconductor companies.
- • Ondine did not disclose the size of the first close or the fund's target.
- • Fund III will invest across the AI value chain, including foundation models, next-generation semiconductors, AI infrastructure, AI-native software, and physical AI.
- • Ondine cited three early portfolio companies: Recursive Superintelligence, Bot Auto, and Salience Labs.
- • Alongside the close, Ondine appointed Brian Yen, formerly principal and head of the Taipei office at Headline Asia, as partner.
Summary
Ondine Capital has announced the first close of its third US dollar-denominated venture fund, according to a statement issued on Tuesday by the Taiwan-based firm. The close includes commitments from institutional and strategic limited partners, among them several leading Taiwanese semiconductor companies. The firm did not disclose the size of the close or the fund's target.
Ondine, a venture firm focused on frontier technologies including semiconductors, AI, enterprise software, and clean energy, said Fund III will invest across the AI value chain. Target areas include foundation models, next-generation semiconductors, AI infrastructure, AI-native software, and physical AI. The strategy draws on the firm's experience in semiconductors and deep technology.
The firm cited three early investments. Recursive Superintelligence, founded by former Salesforce chief scientist Richard Socher, builds recursive self-improving AI systems and recently raised $650 million at a $4 billion pre-money valuation, led by Google Ventures with participation from Nvidia and AMD. Bot Auto, founded by former TuSimple co-founder and CTO Xiaodi Hou, develops autonomous freight technology and recently launched driverless freight operations on the Houston-to-Dallas corridor with Ryan Transportation. Salience Labs develops silicon-photonics optical switching for AI data centres and recently closed a $125 million round led by Bullhound Capital, with strategic backing from AMD Ventures and Intel Capital. The company is working with Tower Semiconductor.
Alongside the close, Ondine appointed Brian Yen as partner. Yen was previously principal and head of the Taipei office at Headline Asia and focuses on consumer technology, agentic services, and physical AI, with investments including respond.io, forest inc., Braid, and iMotorbike. At Ondine he will focus on early-stage founders building intelligent software and physical AI platforms. Yen said the convergence of AI and semiconductors is creating opportunities across the technology stack and that the firm expects significant value creation as these technologies mature.
Ondine, a venture firm focused on frontier technologies including semiconductors, AI, enterprise software, and clean energy, said Fund III will invest across the AI value chain. Target areas include foundation models, next-generation semiconductors, AI infrastructure, AI-native software, and physical AI. The strategy draws on the firm's experience in semiconductors and deep technology.
The firm cited three early investments. Recursive Superintelligence, founded by former Salesforce chief scientist Richard Socher, builds recursive self-improving AI systems and recently raised $650 million at a $4 billion pre-money valuation, led by Google Ventures with participation from Nvidia and AMD. Bot Auto, founded by former TuSimple co-founder and CTO Xiaodi Hou, develops autonomous freight technology and recently launched driverless freight operations on the Houston-to-Dallas corridor with Ryan Transportation. Salience Labs develops silicon-photonics optical switching for AI data centres and recently closed a $125 million round led by Bullhound Capital, with strategic backing from AMD Ventures and Intel Capital. The company is working with Tower Semiconductor.
Alongside the close, Ondine appointed Brian Yen as partner. Yen was previously principal and head of the Taipei office at Headline Asia and focuses on consumer technology, agentic services, and physical AI, with investments including respond.io, forest inc., Braid, and iMotorbike. At Ondine he will focus on early-stage founders building intelligent software and physical AI platforms. Yen said the convergence of AI and semiconductors is creating opportunities across the technology stack and that the firm expects significant value creation as these technologies mature.
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