St. Petersburg-based incubator spARK Labs by ARK Invest and investment firm ARK Invest will launch a new early-stage venture fund and angel network.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Becca Brown, CEO and president of spARK Labs by ARK Invest, explained that there is an opportunity to invest in young startups across ARK Invest\u2019s core themes of artificial intelligence, robotics, blockchain, energy storage and multiomics biology.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0It is targeted to launch, she added, in \u201cthe coming weeks.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
ARK Invest has operated a later-stage fund, called the ARK Venture Fund,<\/a> for multiple years. This initiative also focuses on disruptive innovation or products and services that could potentially change how the world operates.\u00a0<\/p>\n According to the organization\u2019s website, the fund \u201cseeks to democratize venture capital, offering all investors access to what we believe are the most innovative companies throughout their private and public market lifecycles.\u201d<\/p>\n Companies within the fund relate to the areas of artificial intelligence and next generation internet, space and defense innovation, autonomous technology and robotics, digital assets and fintech innovation and genomic revolution and biotech.\u00a0<\/p>\n These include large-scale businesses such as SpaceX and OpenAI (the creator of ChatGPT).\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cTo now have a vehicle to be able to invest in the earlier stage, as these companies are really innovating and bringing their innovations to market, is strategically important,\u201d Brown explained, <\/p>\n Partners involved in the initiative will be unveiled closer to the launch. She said that the \u201cfund is actively being set up.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Brown added that the effort could be a \u201cbig opportunity\u201d for spARK Labs by ARK Invest member organizations. Over 45 companies operate out of the incubator, which reached office max capacity <\/a>earlier this year. These include Seagate Space, which designed a rocket launch platform<\/a>, and Rovex Technologies Corporation, which created a robotic carrier<\/a> for hospital stretchers.\u00a0<\/p>\n Founders are able to receive customized one-on-one support. Community activities are another key aspect of the spARK Labs experience. Members can participate in pitch practices, demo their products or services at events and attend weekly brainstorm sessions.\u00a0<\/p>\n