Two Google alumni raise $11.3M to back AI startups that enterprises will actually pay for
Former Google executives Bontia Stewart and Jackson Georges Jr. have raised $11.3 million for BAG Ventures, a new fund focused on early-stage AI startups. The firm aims to bridge the gap between founders and enterprise customers by providing capital alongside direct go-to-market support.
Why it matters
This fund highlights a shift in the AI investment landscape toward practical, enterprise-ready applications rather than experimental research projects.
Two Google alumni have closed an $11.3 million fund to back early-stage AI startups, betting that the era of enterprise AI experimentation is ending and that customers will increasingly pay only for products that prove their worth.
BAG Ventures, founded by Bontia Stewart, a former Google vice president, and Jackson Georges Jr., a former CapitalG partner, closed the fund after about two years of investing from it as it came together. The firm has already backed 10 companies, including the software company SXD, the AI travel agent BizTrip, and the agentic reasoning platform Nomadic.
It invests in startups in areas like AI infrastructure, compute, physical and edge AI, security, governance, and vertical SaaS. Check sizes range from $100,000 to $500,000, and the team hopes to invest the rest of the fund over the next two years.
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