ARK Venture (ARKVX) 1st Quarter 2025 Update

By Chase Prather, Charles Roberts

Venture Capital Research Associate

Chase joined ARK in November 2023. As a Venture Capital Research Associate, Chase supports the operations and research of the ARK Venture Fund, ARK's evergreen public-private crossover fund.

Chief Investment Strategist

As Chief Investment Strategist, Charles is responsible for providing inputs into research and strategies on both public and private markets, with a particular focus on AI and multiomics. In addition, Charles plays a key role in the strategy and execution of ARK’s venture capital efforts. Charles joined ARK in 2023.

Dear ARK Venture Investors,

Just like that, the first quarter of 2025 is in the books as markets continue to adapt to changes in global leadership, including a new US Presidential Administration. Amid the volatility and uncertainty dominating the opening months of the year, our conviction in the opportunity to invest in disruptive innovation remains strong. The ARK Venture Fund has been deploying capital actively across ARK’s core focus of frontier technologies.

In Q1, the ARK Venture Fund reinvested in X Corp, which subsequently converted into a position in xAI, Elon Musk’s pioneering artificial intelligence company, as part of a transformative all-stock merger. Valuing xAI at $80 billion and X at $33 billion, the deal created a new combined entity called XAI Holdings Corp., a strategic union that integrates xAI’s cutting-edge foundational models with X’s massive user base of over 600 million strong to unlock a platform that blends real-time communication with AI-enhanced discovery, truth-seeking, and personalized knowledge delivery. We believe this merger will be a significant catalyst for consumer AI adoption and foundational model monetization.

We also are pleased to share updates on several other new investments that represent ARK’s ongoing effort to democratize access to high-quality private companies building for the future. Please read below for more information about the latest companies to join the ARK Venture Fund’s portfolio.

In the autonomous robotics space, we made two new investments. First, Apptronik, based in Austin, is developing general-purpose humanoid robots designed to work safely alongside humans in industrial, commercial, and healthcare environments. A spinout of the Human Centered Robotics Lab at the University of Texas at Austin, the company’s flagship robot, Apollo, is built for versatility and scalability. Addressing global labor shortages with human-centric robotics, Apptronik is building the infrastructure for a future in which robots and humans collaborate within a wide array of physical workspaces. We also invested in Kodiak Robotics, a leading autonomous trucking company focused on long-haul freight. Founded in 2018 by Don Burnette, a co-founder of Uber’s self-driving truck division (Otto), Kodiak takes a modular and safety-first approach to autonomous vehicle design. The company operates freight routes across the southern US and is among the few players executing commercial partnerships and real-world operations to remove human drivers from highway routes altogether. As autonomous logistics scales, Kodiak is well-positioned to lead in operational efficiency and safety.

The ARK Venture fund also made its first investment in the nuclear energy space. Founded by former SpaceX engineers, Radiant Nuclear builds compact nuclear microreactors for clean, portable power generation. Its flagship product, Kaleidos, uses Tri-structural ISOtropic (TRISO fuel)—a next-generation, meltdown-resistant fuel type designed to produce 1 megawatt of electricity. Radiant targets applications like military bases, disaster zones, and remote communities where safe, zero-emission energy is critical. The company’s fast-deploying, passively safe design has the potential to transform off-grid energy infrastructure. Other investors in the company include well known venture capital (VC) names DCVC, Founders Fund, and a16z, among other expert and highly strategic co-investors.¹

In the next-generation internet space, we made two new investments. One, led by the inventor of the Tensor Processing Units (TPU), Jonathan Ross, Groq is a semiconductor company redefining artificial intelligence (AI) performance through its novel Language Processing Unit (LPU) built on Tensor Streaming Processor (TSP) architecture. Engineered for ultra-low-latency inference, Groq’s systems deliver deterministic performance that sets them apart from traditional graphics processing units (GPUs). With strong momentum in both government and enterprise sectors, Groq is emerging as a core player in real-time AI compute infrastructure. Our other investment was in Lambda Labs, which is building the cloud infrastructure powering the deep learning era. The company offers high-performance GPU servers, workstations, and cloud clusters at pricing and performance levels that often beat the major cloud providers. Supporting leading AI frameworks like PyTorch and TensorFlow, Lambda serves everyone from cutting-edge startups to major research institutions, helping democratize access to high-end compute to enable AI workloads.

The hottest startup to come out of the UK, Revolut, joins the ARK Venture portfolio as a global fintech powerhouse serving over 35 million users across personal and business banking. From foreign exchange and crypto trading to stock investing, savings tools, and budgeting features, Revolut delivers a modern, mobile-first experience that reimagines how people manage money. Founded in 2015, the company continues to expand its regulatory footprint by securing banking licenses in multiple regions, laying the groundwork for full-stack financial services worldwide. We invested because we believe Revolut is not just riding the wave of digital finance; it is helping to shape its future.

We also invested in two companies at the frontier of AI in therapeutic discovery and autonomous science, created by Flagship Pioneering. Generate:Biomedicines is building a platform to design entirely new protein therapeutics using generative AI. Rather than modifying existing proteins, Generate’s approach creates them from scratch, accelerating drug development for cancer, infectious diseases, and autoimmune conditions. Their proprietary platform sits at the intersection of structural biology and generative AI, enabling programmable, at-scale therapeutic design and engineering. By implementing a lab-in-the-loop system, they continuously optimize and refine candidates to create both best-in-class and first-in-class medicines. The platform initiates with protein design; synthesizes mega-scale DNA libraries followed by cell-free protein expression; tests function and binding through display technologies and microfluidic screening; and learns structural insights via cryo-EM to create a rapid, iterative design–test–learn cycle for therapeutic innovation. Also from the Flagship stable, and now also backed by co-investors General Catalyst, Lila Sciences is building the future of autonomous science, pioneering what it calls "Scientific Superintelligence." Lila’s full-stack platform combines generative AI, structural biology, and automated laboratories to create "AI Science Factories"—systems that accelerate the discovery and engineering of new therapeutics, materials, and energy solutions. In therapeutics, Lila has developed programmable cell therapies, discovered novel families of gene editors, and outperformed large public biopharma comparator company benchmarks by achieving a 3x improvement in mRNA protein expression within months. Beyond healthcare, Lila’s platform has engineered next-generation materials, including low-cost green hydrogen catalysts outperforming platinum group metals and novel CO₂ capture materials with superior thermal stability and binding kinetics. Critically, Lila’s platform generates proprietary experimental data through continuous design–build–test–learn cycles, creating a self-reinforcing data and discovery flywheel. With a colossal total addressable market (TAM), its ultimate TAM potentially exceeding $12 trillion across life sciences, materials, and energy, Lila is positioned to become a foundational platform for next-generation scientific innovation—similar to how NVIDIA transformed computing. We recently published a podcast² with Lila’s founder, CEO Geoff von Mahltzen, for readers interested to learn more about his vision. Both of these companies have enormous potential to accelerate better therapies for patients, and Lila to revolutionize science itself.

The ARK Venture Fund remains committed to our mission—granting access to the private markets and offering investors exposure to world-changing innovation. We are energized by what’s ahead in 2025 and encouraged by the growth and engagement of our investor community.

Chase, Charlie, and the broader ARK Venture Team

Important Information

Investors should carefully consider the investment objectives and risks as well as charges and expenses of the ARK Venture Fund before investing. This and other information are contained in the ARK Venture Fund’s prospectus, which may be obtained here. The prospectus should be read carefully before investing.

To view the top 10 holdings in the ARK Venture Fund, click here. To view the most up to date portfolio, click here.

You should not expect to be able to sell your Shares other than through the Fund’s repurchase policy, regardless of how the Fund performs. The Fund’s Shares will not be listed on any securities exchange, and the Fund does not expect a secondary market in the Shares to develop. Shares may be transferred or sold only in accordance with the Fund’s prospectus. Although the Fund will offer to repurchase Shares on a quarterly basis, Shares are not redeemable and there is no guarantee that shareholders will be able to sell all of their tendered Shares during a quarterly repurchase offer. An investment in the Fund’s Shares is not suitable for investors that require liquidity, other than liquidity provided through the Fund’s repurchase policy. The ARK Venture Fund is a continuously-offered, non-diversified, registered closed-end fund with limited liquidity. 

All statements made regarding investment opportunities are strictly beliefs and points of view held by ARK and investors should determine for themselves whether a particular investment or service is suitable for their investment needs. Certain statements contained in this document may be statements of future expectations and other forward-looking statements that are based on ARK’s current views and assumptions, and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, performance or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statements. The matters discussed in this document may also involve risks and uncertainties described from time to time in ARK’s filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. ARK assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking information contained in this document. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results.

An investment in the ARK Venture Fund is subject to risks and you can lose money on your investment in the ARK Venture Fund. There can be no assurance that the ARK Venture Fund will achieve its investment objectives. The ARK Venture Fund’s portfolio is more volatile than broad market averages. The ARK Venture Fund also has specific risks, which are described below. More detailed information regarding these risks can be found in the ARK Venture Fund’s prospectus.

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ARK Investment Management LLC (“ARK Invest”) is the investment adviser to the ARK Venture Fund.