Science & Technology

How Elorian AI pulled off a $300M pre-seed valuation with Andrew Dai

Building an AI startup is one thing. Raising one of the largest seed rounds of the year before launching a product is something else entirely. In this episode of Build Mode, host and Startup Battlefield lead Isabelle Johannesen sits down with Andrew Dai, founder and CEO of Elorian and former Google DeepMind researcher, to unpack…

Published

3 months ago

July 16, 2026

CYBER TECH TV

Building an AI startup is one thing. Raising one of the largest seed rounds of the year before launching a product is something else entirely.

In this episode of Build Mode, host and Startup Battlefield lead Isabelle Johannesen sits down with Andrew Dai, founder and CEO of Elorian and former Google DeepMind researcher, to unpack how his company raised a $55 million seed round at a $300 million valuation before generating revenue or releasing a product.

Andrew shares what investors saw in Elorian’s vision for visual AI, how he approached fundraising after leaving Google DeepMind, and why choosing the right investors mattered more than maximizing valuation. He also offers practical advice for founders building in AI, explains why today’s fundraising environment rewards clear storytelling over technical jargon, and shares what surprised him most as a first-time founder.

They get into:

•

How Elorian raised a $55 million seed round before launching a product

•

Why visual AI is one of the next major frontiers in artificial intelligence

•

What investors look for when backing frontier AI startups

•

Why the highest valuation isn’t always the best fundraising outcome

•

How to pitch highly technical products to non-technical investors

•

What founders should look for when choosing venture capital partners

•

How to hire top AI talent away from Big Tech

•

Why moving quickly matters more than ever in today’s AI race

•

How founders can build defensible AI companies as technology evolves

•

Andrew’s advice for first-time founders raising venture capital

Subscribe to Build Mode on⁠ () Apple Podcasts⁠ () , ⁠Spotify⁠ () , or⁠ () wherever you like to listen⁠ () . And watch the full videos on⁠ () YouTube⁠ () . New episodes of ⁠Build Mode⁠ () drop every Thursday.

Chapters:

00:00 Meet Andrew Dai: From DeepMind to Building Elorian
01:48 Why Visual AI Is the Next Frontier
04:50 Raising a $55M Seed With No Revenue
08:46 Landing Nvidia, Jeff Dean, and Top AI Investors
12:17 Managing the Pressure of a $300M Valuation
14:40 How AI Founders Should Pitch Investors
20:47 Hiring, Scaling, and Building a Frontier AI Company
27:00 Turning Down Bigger Offers & Advice for Future Founders

Hosted by Isabelle Johannessen. Produced and edited by Maggie Nye. Audience development led by Morgan Little. Special thanks to the Foundry and Cheddar video teams.

Up Next

Samsung Galaxy Watch 9 Is Coming: These Features Would Make It Awesome

Don't Miss

RIP, Physical Media (Wait, Again?!) | CNET Archive

Click to comment

CNET

How to Claim ALL Your Amazon Prime Freebies

In this video, you will learn about every free perk available in your Amazon Prime account, along with some deeply discounted offers that most people are not aware of. From credits toward free movie rentals to free PC Game downloads and free Grubhub delivery fees, the Amazon Prime freebies listed in this video make the…

Published

16 hours ago

October 6, 2026

CYBER TECH TV

Read more about Amazon Prime Day Deals on CNET.com
I Found Over 75 Prime Day Deals Worth Grabbing Right Now

PCMag’s Amazon Prime Day Live Blog

Mashable’s Amazon Prime Day Deals Tracker

Lifehacker’s Prime Day 2026 Live Blog

ZDNET – How to get a free Amazon Prime trial to shop October Prime Day 2026 deals

Everything that comes with your Prime membership

Timecode Chapters:
0:00 Introduction: Is Amazon Prime Worth It?
0:30 Category 1: Digital Entertainment & Media Freebies
0:36 Amazon Prime Video with NFL Thursday Night Football
0:42 Amazon Music Prime
0:50 Prime Reading
1:01 Amazon First Reads
1:12 Amazon Photos
1:20 How to Set Up Amazon Photos Auto-Backup
1:51 Ctegory 2: Dining, Travel and Daily Perks
1:55 Free Grubhub+ membership for free delivery fees
2:14 Gas/Fuel Savings with the Earnify App
2:39 Category 3: Gaming & Tech Freebies
2:42 Prime Gaming Free Monthly PC Game
2:51 Free Twitch Channel Subscription
2:55 Amazon Luna Cloud Gaming
3:02 Category 4: Delivery & Registry Extras
3:06 Amazon No-Rush Shipping Digital Promotional Credits
3:27 Release Date Delivery
3:38 Baby Registry Free Welcome Box
3:58 Amazon Key In-Garage Delivery
4:09 Category 5: Household Sharing & Exclusive Savings
4:13 Amazon Family Sharing
4:26 Whole Foods & Amazon Fresh Savings
4:37 Early Lightning Deals Access
4:45 Free Woot! Shipping
4:54 Category 6: Discounted Add-On Health Perks
5:01 RXPass Prescription Drug Subscriptions
5:08 One Medical Membership
5:21 Final Thoughts & Outro

Video Credits:
Produced By: Stephen Beacham
Thumbnail Designer: Zooey Liao

Add CNET as a trusted news source
Never miss a deal again! See CNET’s browser extension 👉
Check out CNET’s Amazon Storefront:
Subscribe to CNET on YouTube:
Follow us on TikTok:
Follow us on Instagram:
Follow us on Bluesky:
Like us on Facebook:
CNET’s AI Atlas:
Follow us on X:
Visit CNET.com:

#amazon #amazonprime #amazonprimevideo #amazonfinds #amazongadgets #amazonprimedaydeals

CNET

Getting Bridget’s REAL age?!

Bridget brings us along to test Apple’s updated Health app tools in iOS 27.2, which includes a series of tests to measure your health against your actual age. Watch the full ep on our channel. #onemorething #applehealth #applewatch #healthtech #smartwatch Host: Bridget Carey Editor: Carly Marsh

Published

1 day ago

October 5, 2026

CYBER TECH TV

Host: Bridget Carey
Editor: Carly Marsh

CNET

I Rode in a Self-Driving Semi. Is Kodiak the Future of Trucking?

Kodiak is gearing up to deploy its fully driverless semi trucks on highways later this year, starting with Ikea. I took a ride to see the autonomous tech in action. Read more about Kodiak on CNET.com Ready for Driverless Trucks? I Took a Ride in Kodiak’s Autonomous Semi Timecode Chapters: 0:00 Intro 0:33 Kodiak AI…

Published

2 days ago

October 5, 2026

CYBER TECH TV

Kodiak is gearing up to deploy its fully driverless semi trucks on highways later this year, starting with Ikea. I took a ride to see the autonomous tech in action.

Read more about Kodiak on CNET.com
Ready for Driverless Trucks? I Took a Ride in Kodiak’s Autonomous Semi

Timecode Chapters:
0:00 Intro
0:33 Kodiak AI
1:22 Ride along
3:00 Interview Kodiak COO
3:30 Sensor pod
3:45 GigaFusionNet
5:18 Conclusion

Video Credits:
Host: Abrar Al-Heeti
Scripted by: Abrar Al-Heeti
Producer: Celso Bulgatti
Camera: Celso Bulgatti
Video Editor: Celso Bulgatti
Thumbnail Designer: Zooey Liao