Former OpenAI Exec Joins Spark Capital as Venture Push Into AI Heats Up

To gain an edge in the suddenly hot artificial intelligence category, one venture firm is hiring from the startup—OpenAI—that set off the generative AI craze in the first place.

Spark Capital has hired Fraser Kelton, the former head of product at OpenAI, as a venture partner, Kelton and Nabeel Hyatt, a Spark general partner, told The Information. Kelton, who started last week after leaving OpenAI in January, will lead investments primarily in early-stage AI startups. Part of Kelton’s focus will be sniffing out investing opportunities with a growing diaspora of alumni from OpenAI, the buzzy creator of ChatGPT.

Even before it hired Kelton, Spark had begun seeking out such deals, leading investments in the startups Anthropic and Adept AI Labs, both of which are led by former OpenAI executives. Founded in 2005, Spark built its reputation backing consumer technology companies like Postmates and Warby Parker. But recently the focus of the firm, which raised a $2.1 billion fund last February, has been squarely on AI.