**[Venture Capital Firm USV Announces $900 Million New Fund to Increase Investments in AI, Robotics, and Other Fields]** BlockBeats News, October 9 — Venture capital firm Union Square Ventures (USV) has announced the launch of a new $900 million fund aimed at supporting innovative startups in large markets driven by technological transformation. USV stated that the construction of artificial intelligence infrastructure is accelerating, with AI tools enabling entrepreneurs to turn ideas into actual products within days and deploy AI agent teams at lower costs. However, this has also intensified product competition. To address this, USV has expanded its investment team, adding Anchor co-founder Michael Mignano as General Partner, GroupMe co-founder Jared Hecht as Venture Partner, and Behance co-founder and former Adobe Chief Product Officer Scott Belsky as Product Advisor Partner. Previously, USV’s core fund size was $275 million, and the scale of this new fund represents a significant expansion. The firm noted that AI has lowered the barriers to product development while increasing the demand for funding, the size of funding rounds, and valuations for high-quality startups. As a result, more capital is needed to lead additional funding rounds, extend support cycles for portfolio companies, and expand into capital-intensive fields such as robotics, manufacturing, and energy. However, USV plans to maintain roughly the same number of investment projects as previous funds, continuing to adhere to its investment philosophy, which focuses on evaluating companies’ business models, teams, and products. In terms of investment strategy, USV has outlined four core directions: 1. Fundamentally reshaping existing markets using AI, rather than merely improving traditional business efficiency. 2. Leveraging physical intelligence and AI to access previously unattainable offline data, investing in related software, robotics, manufacturing, and sensor networks. 3. Supporting intelligent products that achieve better alignment of trust, security, memory capabilities, and cost. 4. Increasing investments in the energy sector, integrating energy investments previously initiated through a dedicated fund since 2021 into the core fund. USV stated that its investment logic continues to build on the philosophy established in 2004 around internet infrastructure, now focusing on artificial intelligence and smart technologies to identify companies capable of reshaping large markets. [Original Link]