Ex-DeepMind Founder Raises $55M at $300M Valuation

Andrew Dai left Google DeepMind to pursue visual AI, raising a $55 million seed round at a $300 million valuation before launching a product. His startup, Elorian, aims to build models advancing visual AGI, an area Dai says has seen uneven progress compared to math, physics, and coding. In a Build Mode podcast episode, Dai explains how he translated a highly technical vision into an investor-friendly pitch, why he chose strategic partners like Nvidia and Menlo Ventures over higher valuation offers, and how speed and talent recruitment are key competitive advantages in frontier AI.