Runway, the pioneering AI video generation company, has announced a $10 million venture fund alongside its new Builders program targeting early-stage AI innovators.
This initiative aims to invest up to $500,000 in pre-seed and seed startups focused on AI frontiers, media applications, and world simulation technologies.
Builders Program Empowers AI Innovators
The Builders program provides eligible startups from seed to Series C with 500,000 free API credits and exclusive access to Runway's Characters, a real-time video agent powered by general world models.
Applications for the program are now open at Runway's Builders page, featuring an inaugural cohort including Cartesia, MSCHF, Oasys Health, Spara, Subject, and Supersonik.
These startups are leveraging Characters for diverse applications like AI customer support, interactive brand experiences, personalized onboarding, real-time sales assistants, and synthetic media tools.
Runway's history of innovation includes raising nearly $860 million, achieving a $5.3 billion valuation, and launching general world models with native audio in late 2025.
Prior quiet investments in companies like LanceDB for AI databases and Tamarind Bio for protein design underscore Runway's commitment to the ecosystem.
Impact and Future of Video Intelligence
The fund and program position Runway to foster video intelligence, enabling immersive, real-time experiences in telemedicine, education, gaming, and entertainment.
Alejandro Matamala Ortiz, Runway’s co-founder, emphasized that video will unlock new industry use cases beyond their core focus.
This move aligns with industry trends, mirroring funds from OpenAI, Perplexity, and CoreWeave Ventures to nurture multimodal AI advancements.
Looking ahead, Runway envisions a personalized, immersive internet driven by interactive general world models simulating entire environments.
By supporting technical pioneers and application builders, Runway aims to shape the next wave of AI-driven media and simulation startups.
Maria Lourdes
