Flying Fish Partners, a Seattle venture capital firm managing under $250 million in assets, successfully secured a position in the $1.1 billion seed funding round for Ineffable Intelligence, the
London-based startup founded by DeepMind veteran David Silver. The round, valued at $5.1 billion, attracted major investors including Sequoia Capital, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Google, and Nvidia, making it the largest European seed round on record.
The Pacific Northwest firm’s entry into this highly competitive deal stemmed from years of strategic relationship-building, early investments in related companies, and persistent networking within the AI research community. Managing Director Frank Chang attributes their success to foundations built over multiple years rather than simply financial capacity.
The firm’s journey began with their 2020 investment in Phaidra, a Seattle AI company co-founded by former DeepMind engineers Jim Gao and Vedavyas Panneershelvam. This early backing provided Flying Fish with crucial access to elite AI talent networks and credibility within the DeepMind community. The investment proved to be more than just a portfolio addition—it became a gateway into the world’s premier AI research circles.
Chang, along with partners Heather Redman and Geoff Harris, leveraged these connections to establish a significant presence in London’s AI ecosystem, where DeepMind was founded in 2010 before its 2014 acquisition by Google. Through countless meetings and social gatherings with AI researchers, Flying Fish became a recognizable entity among the community. According to Chang, the firm’s events became so frequent that founders would discuss which Flying Fish dinner they had been invited to in the “Ex-DeepMind” WhatsApp group.
The direct connection to Silver began when Heather Gorham, then a principal at Flying Fish, contacted him following the publication of his paper “The Era of Experience.” The paper argued that AI
development required a new direction, as knowledge derived from human data was nearing its limitations. Chang and Gorham cultivated a robust relationship with Silver, engaging in discussions about company objectives, strategy, talent acquisition, and shared perspectives on AI’s future direction. Their earlier Phaidra investment also enhanced their standing with Silver and his colleagues.
Gorham has subsequently joined Ineffable’s founding team, according to her professional profile. By the time Silver, renowned for creating AlphaGo and his pioneering work in reinforcement learning, was prepared to launch his new venture, Flying Fish had established itself as knowledgeable players in the field rather than just another regional investment firm.
In the most recent funding round—which included participation from Google, Nvidia, and the U.K. Sovereign AI Fund—Flying Fish made their largest investment in the firm’s decade-long history. While Chang declined to reveal the exact investment amount, he confirmed it was substantial enough to require establishing a special purpose vehicle, a dedicated fund created specifically for this single investment.
The significant commitment reflects a shared vision with Silver regarding AI’s evolution beyond large language models. Chang explains that while many investors seek companies capable of delivering artificial general intelligence or superintelligence through LLMs, Flying Fish believes LLMs have inherent limitations. This perspective aligns with numerous prominent AI researchers who share similar views.
Ineffable’s core premise is that LLMs have a fundamental ceiling. Achieving genuine superintelligence requires a “superlearner” capable of discovering knowledge through its own experience rather than merely processing existing internet data. Silver’s approach, as outlined in a recent profile, involves deploying AI agents within simulations where they can learn experientially, accomplish objectives, and work collaboratively.
Chang acknowledges this strategy diverges from the “frontier lab” competition where companies like Anthropic have achieved
trillion-dollar valuations on secondary markets. However, he maintains that the substantial capital requirements are justified. If Ineffable accomplishes its goals and significantly surpasses LLM capabilities, the returns will justify even a seed round valuation exceeding $5 billion.
Beyond technical and financial considerations, Chang emphasizes the entrepreneur himself as the investment’s most compelling aspect. He describes Silver as genuinely good-natured, approachable, and likeable, while being clearly mission-driven to the extent that he has committed to donating his equity proceeds to charitable causes. Combined with his distinguished credentials, Silver’s character enables him to attract exceptional talent.
This reputation was reinforced in a recent profile where a senior writer noted that Silver’s standing as both a leading researcher and, frankly, not being difficult to work with, may advantage him in recruiting efforts. This quality particularly resonates with Chang and Flying Fish.
Chang summarizes the investment opportunity as combining one of the world’s most respected AI researchers who is mission-oriented, ethical, has assembled an outstanding team, and is pursuing an ambitious goal with world-changing potential. From his perspective, the investment represents an ideal alignment of all critical factors.