Hivemind Capital, an investment firm focused on deep technology, has launched a new program called Darkmatter Lab. The initiative is designed to help researchers turn their advanced scientific work into commercial products before even starting a company. It was developed in partnership with the University of California, Berkeley and will become a key part of Hivemind’s upcoming venture capital fund.
Support and resources for selected projects
Each selected project will receive at least $1 million in combined support. This includes direct research funding from Hivemind Capital. There is also $350,000 in cloud computing credits through Google’s Startup Program. Legal assistance from Gunderson Dettmer and Goodwin Procter will cover immigration, intellectual property and business formation. Operational support will come via Berkeley SkyDeck. Cloud infrastructure resources are provided by Google Cloud.
Areas of intervention and objectives
The first group of projects will focus on artificial intelligence and blockchain technologies. Areas of interest include AI infrastructure, autonomous agent systems, cybersecurity, compute optimization, cryptography, and decentralized networks. Hivemind says the goal is to create a pathway for promising research to move from academic environments to practical applications. This gives researchers access to capital, infrastructure and business resources much earlier than traditional startup funding models allow.
