A New Wave of Venture Interest in AI

by Dr. Phil Winder , CEO

In 2025, Winder.AI has experienced something not seen in our previous 13 years, a significant rise in collaboration with venture capital firms.

We have held more meetings and discussions and initiated more collaborations with investors this year than ever before.

The reason for this surge has become clear. Venture firms are no longer only exploring how AI can help their own investment processes. They are now looking to help the companies within their portfolios use AI to improve performance, efficiency, and growth.

Many investors have begun identifying specific gaps within their portfolio companies. A technology firm may need better forecasting. A retail group may need to improve customer engagement. A manufacturer greater automation and quality control. When these needs are recognised, VCs contact Winder.AI to understand the challenge, define the opportunity, and build AI solutions designed specifically for each company.

This shift marks a new chapter for venture capital and its portfolio. AI is not replacing experience or intuition. It’s enhancing them with scale, consistency, and speed.

AI as a Portfolio Growth Lever

Helping portfolio companies adopt AI has become one of the most effective ways for investors to drive portfolio-wide performance. Traditional post-investment support, such as strategic guidance and networking, still adds value, but enabling AI adoption delivers measurable operational improvement.

When implemented well, AI helps portfolio companies to:

  • Use data to make faster and more accurate decisions
  • Automate manual or repetitive work
  • Improve customer engagement and retention
  • Identify risks earlier and act on them quickly
  • Forecast growth and demand with greater confidence

And global data reflects this shift.

In the first quarter of 2025, 71% of all US venture funding went to AI-related companies, up from just 26% in 2023, according to Statista. Worldwide, AI startup funding reached $131.5 billion in 2024, representing a 52% year-on-year increase, according to fDi Intelligence.

Winder.AI has worked with over 100 organisations across technology, retail, real estate, manufacturing, food and beverage, leisure, airlines, aerospace, law, banking, finance, and insurance, helping businesses turn AI capabilities into genuine competitive advantages.

How Winder.AI Works with Venture Firms

We collaborate with investors and their portfolio companies to transform AI potential into measurable business results.

Finding Opportunities for Impact

We work with investors to identify which companies within their portfolios are best positioned to benefit from AI adoption. Our goal is always to align technology with genuine business value, improving efficiency, insight, and performance.

For example, we partnered with Apartment List to explore how AI could enhance lead management and tenant-matching efficiency, improving conversion rates and reducing time-to-lease through better data-driven recommendations.

With Outlier Ventures, we collaborated on developing applied AI frameworks that help portfolio companies accelerate product development and operational decision-making, ensuring early-stage founders can integrate AI safely and effectively as they scale.

And with a leading hotel technology company, we supported initiatives to strengthen pricing intelligence and forecasting models in the hospitality sector, enabling more adaptive, data-informed revenue strategies for hotels and resorts worldwide.

These AI projects were practical opportunities for improvement, embedding AI into existing operations and delivering measurable, lasting results across diverse portfolio companies.

Assessing Readiness

We help each company understand its current data capability, systems, and culture, and define what needs to be in place to achieve success.

Designing and Delivering AI Systems

Our team builds tailored solutions that address real business challenges such as demand forecasting, automation, process optimisation, and customer analytics.

Enabling Long-Term Value

We provide workshops, advisory sessions, and measurable impact tracking so both the investor and the company can see results over time.

Winder.AI is not a product company. We do not sell off-the-shelf platforms or one-size-fits-all solutions; that model, used by many today, we deliver bespoke results that equal meaningful results and are unique, just as the clients are themselves.

From the very beginning, we have been a bespoke AI solutions provider, delivering development projects tailored to each client’s specific needs, goals, and environment. Our work is rooted in understanding, collaboration, and long-term capability building.

We design and implement systems that integrate seamlessly with what companies already use, and that can be trusted by the people who rely on them.

We build understanding, capability, and lasting results.

A Turning Point in Venture Capital

What is happening in 2025 represents a major turning point. For years, venture firms have invested in AI-focused startups. Now they are helping every company in their portfolios to become AI-enabled.

It is a smarter, more hands-on approach to value creation, one that is already improving performance across entire portfolios.

At Winder.AI, we are proud to be working with these forward-looking investors, helping real businesses use AI to operate better, grow faster, and build stronger futures.

Driving change in your portfolio

We are ready to listen, understand and collaborate with you and your portfolio.

Contact Winder.AI today.

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