Fundamentals For Startups: AI Investment Trends in Venture Capital

This year's Fundamentals for Startups series is proudly presented by Curinos. Elevators and doors open at 11:30 AM and will close promptly at 12:10 PM. About the Lecture: Jon Prentice from Silicon Valley Bank will share key takeaways from SVB's State of the Markets report, with a focus on how AI is reshaping venture capital investment. He'll unpack the growing phenomenon of "AI washing"—where companies market themselves as AI-driven without substantive AI technology—and discuss how investors are becoming sharper at distinguishing genuine AI innovators from the hype, rewarding them accordingly. The session will offer founders practical insight into what truly sets apart investable AI companies in today's market. Speaker:Jon Prentice is a Senior Vice President at Silicon Valley Bank, where he works with venture capital and private equity-backed companies across the Pacific Northwest, with a focus on climate tech, agtech, industrial automation/robotics, fintech/real estate tech, and eCommerce/consumer. Before joining SVB in 2022, he spent eight years at Lighter Capital providing financing to nearly 200 software startups across the U.S., Canada, and Australia, and previously worked in corporate venture at Siemens, investing in energy and cleantech startups. Jon holds an MBA from the University of Washington's Foster School of Business and a bachelor's degree from the University of Puget Sound.