The New York-based company’s Builders Programme will support startups from seed to Series C stages across AI, media, and world simulation, which refers to startups building technology that can model, recreate, or simulate parts of the real world digitally using AI.
Participating startups will also receive free API credits, allowing them to access and build on Runway’s proprietary AI models at reduced cost, the report added.
The move underscores Runway’s broader strategy to build an ecosystem around what it calls “video intelligence,” implying AI systems capable of generating, editing, and understanding video content at scale.
Runway’s cofounder and chief innovation officer, Alejandro Matamala-Ortiz, said the goal is to support emerging use cases across industries that the company itself may not yet have the capacity to fully pursue.
Fund structure
The fund is structured across three distinct pathways: technical teams, builders, and companies. While technical teams build core AI infrastructure and advanced frontier technologies, builders are startups that develop applications on top of these foundation models, translating core AI capabilities into practical, user-facing products. Lastly, companies refer to entities that experiment with new formats of content creation, storytelling, and distribution.
The fund’s founding cohorts include startups such as Cartesia, creative studio MSCHF, mental healthcare startup Oasys Health, fintech Spara, edtech startup Subject, and AI-powered sales demo agent Supersonik.
Runway’s previous investments
Runway has previously backed early-stage startups such as LanceDB, which builds databases optimised for AI applications, and Tamarind Bio, which applies AI to accelerate pharmaceutical research and drug development.
Founded in 2018, Runway has emerged as a key player in generative AI (GenAI), particularly in video synthesis and editing tools used by creators, studios, and enterprises. The company is valued at approximately $5.3 billion and has raised close to $860 million to date.
Its investor base includes major players such as Nvidia and Qatar Investment Authority, one of the world’s largest sovereign wealth funds.