Investing in artificial intelligence (AI) startups is the most recent bandwagon VCs are piling onto. But as last 12 months’s crypto experts quickly work to rebrand as AI experts, they’ll must compete with the VCs who’ve been investing within the category all along.

Seattle-based Ascend is considered one of them. Firm founder and solo GP Kirby Winfield has been involved within the AI sector as either a founder or investor because the 90s. Now that seemingly every VC has turned their attention to the category he told TechCrunch he’s glad he’s been in it for thus long and subsequently is not going to make among the mistakes newer entrants will.

“It’s really easy to throw together a vertical AI demo,” Winfield told TechCrunch. “You see plenty of folks who would have been decent SaaS founders, attempting to be decent AI founders. I’d say it’s pretty easy to discover who has actual chops from a technical perspective. We’re really fortunate to be investing presently whatever the hype.”

Ascend is announcing the close of $25 million for its second fund. Winfield said the firm will spend money on pre-seed AI and machine learning (ML) firms largely based within the Pacific Northwest. This continues the firm’s strategy from its first fund which raised $15 million and commenced deploying in 2019.

Winfield isn’t fully avoiding the hype though. The firm hasn’t at all times only focused on AI and ML. Ascend’s Fund I also invested in brands and marketplaces too, areas it’s stepping away from with this latest batch of capital.

The fund was raised 100% from individuals, Winfield said, and consists of two vehicles: one which raised $22.5 million and one other that raised $2.5 million from existing portfolio company founders. Winfield said he was capable of raise $21 million in the primary month the fund was open before letting it sit open for nearly the whole thing of 2022 hoping to see some additional funds mosey in, a process he also ran for Fund I.

“I’d say that cash trickled in rather a lot more strongly in 2019 once I raised Fund I,” Winfield said. “I couldn’t really consider a superb reason to shut the fund. We got one other $3 million within the door by leaving it open. I don’t overthink this stuff an excessive amount of.”

Winfield added that most of the Fund I LPs were glad to reup now that the industry’s notion around investing in AI has modified dramatically since Winfield raised Fund I.

But as every startup is rewriting their marketing to call themselves an AI company, Winfield said he’s intentional concerning the type of firms he backs. He said he isn’t searching for AI firms necessarily but as a substitute is concentrated on startups that may utilize the tech to seek out a greater solution.

“AI doesn’t matter,” he said. “What matters is the answer you might be selling to your customers. Many founders and investors are getting wrapped across the axle and putting the technology and solution before the profit.”

Firms from Fund I that fit that bill in response to Winfield include Xembly, which uses AI to create a virtual chief of staff, Fabric, which operates as a “headless” e-commerce platform, and WhyLabs, an AI observability platform.

This fund also doubles down on the firm’s give attention to firms within the Pacific Northwest, with a specific give attention to Seattle. While which may sound limiting for people who give attention to Silicon Valley, Winfield disagrees, citing the talent that comes out of Microsoft and Amazon and the businesses which can be incubated on the nonprofit Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence, where Winfield has been the investor in residence for nearly six years.

But regardless of his experience and intention, it should be hard for Winfield to compete with the rapidly growing flock of AI investors. Plus, even when he brings a helpful background, he doesn’t include the identical deep pockets a few of his fellow VCs have — Bessemer just announced they’re putting $1 billion of their already raised capital toward the strategy. Plus, all of us understand how aggressive VCs chasing hype will be.

Xembly founder and CEO Pete Christothoulou said that despite the market’s noise, firms should look to work with VCs like Winfield because while everyone seems to be seeking to put money to work in AI, not all support is created equal.

“An AI fund without the fitting underpinnings is just money,” Christothoulou said. “The cash is sweet but you wish the relationships that the investor can bring. In the event that they can baseline their advice and real technical guidance, that’s where it starts getting really interesting and [Winfield] has a giant opportunity.”