San Francisco-based venture capital firm SignalFire Ventures today announced that it has raised more than $1 billion in new capital to bring its total assets under management to $3 billion.

Founded in 2013 by Chris Farmer and Ilya Kirnos, SignalFire is best known as an early investor in artificial intelligence startups but also as a venture capital firm that integrates AI into every facet of the venture capital process, from deal sourcing and execution to value creation for portfolio companies. The firm has its own AI platform called Beacon AI, which leverages data from more than 650 million individuals and 80 million organizations to identify emerging talent, monitor market trends and assist portfolio companies in building teams and products more efficiently.

The new capital will be allocated across SignalFire’s Seed, Early, Executive-in-Residence and Opportunities funds. The firm plans to continue to focus on early-stage investments, aiming to partner with founders from the pre-seed stage through Series B.

SignalFire’s notable previous investments include Grammarly Inc., Grow Therapy Inc., Flock Freight Inc. and Stampli Inc.

Grammarly is by far the best known of SignalFire’s portfolio companies, providing an AI-powered writing assistant that enhances written communication for millions of users worldwide with real-time grammar and spell-checking, style suggestions and tone analysis. Of the other companies, Grow Therapy connects mental health professionals with patients seeking therapy services, Flock Freight specializes in freight logistics and Stampli provides an AI-driven accounts payable automation platform.

“We founded SignalFire in 2013 when most investors dismissed the idea that machine learning could be applied to early-stage investing,” co-founders Farmer and Kirnos wrote in a blog post. “That early conviction in AI for venture capital turned into a 12-year head start for our team, which now leads the industry in applying this technology to all aspects of the VC process — from deal sourcing and execution to value creation for our portfolio companies.”

The $1 billion raised by SignalFire comes after a report from PitchBook-NVCA Venture Monitor last week found that there was only $10 billion in new VC commitments secured during the first quarter of this year, the lowest funding pace since 2016. The decline was attributed to a lack of liquidity from exits deterring limited partners from making new commitments.

Image: SignalFire