Venture capitalists are increasingly shifting their focus from funding startups to acquiring and optimizing mature businesses using artificial intelligence (AI). This strategy, akin to private equity roll-ups, is being adopted by firms like General Catalyst, Thrive Capital, and individual VC Elad Gil.

General Catalyst, which considers this a new asset class, has backed seven such companies, including Long Lake, a startup that consolidates homeowners associations to streamline community management. Since its inception less than two years ago, Long Lake has raised $670 million in funding, according to PitchBook data.

Though this approach is still nascent, other venture capital firms have expressed interest in exploring this investment model. Khosla Ventures, known for investing in high-risk, unproven technologies with lengthy development cycles, is among them. "I think we’ll look at a few of these types of opportunities," said Samir Kaul, general partner at Khosla Ventures.

This private equity-inspired strategy could be a boon for AI startups backed by VCs. By marrying old businesses with new technology, AI startups aiming to serve these industries would gain instant access to large, established clients. According to Kaul, such access would be invaluable for new startups struggling to secure customers independently. With the rapid evolution of AI, the influx of startups entering the market, and the traditionally long sales cycles in enterprise sales, many AI startups face such challenges.

However, Khosla Ventures is cautious about implementing this strategy. "The companies we’re looking at are very unlikely to lose money," Kaul said, but he doesn't want it to jeopardize the firm's strong return track record. "My biggest stress in life is I’m managing other people’s money, and I want to make sure that I continue to be a good steward of it."

As Khosla Ventures begins to "dabble" in AI roll-up investments, Kaul explained that the firm plans to do a few deals to assess if such investments yield strong returns before potentially raising funds for a vehicle specifically targeting this investment strategy. If early bets succeed, Khosla would likely partner with a private equity-style firm to assist with acquisitions rather than hiring a team. "We wouldn’t do it alone, we don’t have that expertise," he said.