By Joel Khalili
Publication Date: 2026-04-16 17:30:00
The British government has launched a venture fund to invest in domestic AI startups to minimize the country’s dependence on foreign-made technology.
The fund, Sovereign AI, will invest approximately $675 million in homegrown startups in areas ranging from model development to artificial intelligence to drug development. In addition, portfolio startups receive access to the UK supercomputer fleet, free visas for international employment, procurement opportunities and advice from government specialists.
Sovereign AI is led by James Wise, a partner at VC firm Balterdon Capital, and Joséphine Kant, formerly of Dogwood Ventures and Y Combinator, an accelerator program whose funding helped found OpenAI.
On Thursday, the fund announced an investment in Callosum, a startup that develops software that helps different classes of processors work together effectively. The fund awarded another six startups – Prima Mente, Cosine, Cursive, Doubleword, Twig…
