Today, venture capital funding is well below the records reached three years ago. But the comparison would of course be much more striking without artificial intelligence.
So far this year, 35% of U.S. startup investments have gone into AI-related companies, according to Crunchbase data. This appears to be the highest percentage ever recorded, even surpassing that of 2023, when OpenAI got his $10 billion Microsoft-backed financing.
For perspective, we’ve outlined the share of funding allocated to artificial intelligence companies over the past five years below:
The biggest rounds of 2024 for AI companies
Much of the high total funding for AI-related companies comes from a few ultra-large funding rounds. So far in 2024, five of these companies have raised fundraising rounds of $1 billion or more, topping the list with May’s $6 billion. Series B For xAI.
Not all are pure AI games
It should be noted that the large share of funding allocated to the AI category includes companies that are more or less technology-focused.
Very generally, we can divide industry startups into those using AI in a particular industry or use case and those developing core underlying technologies.
The core technology category includes generative AI heavyweights like OpenAI and Anthropicwho develop fundamental technology. Other companies, in turn, can use their AI models for use cases across a myriad of industries.
The second category contains more startups, but generally not the most funded ones. Some of the biggest beneficiaries of investments along these lines in 2024 include Abnormal securityfocused on email security, leafletwhich works on automated decision-making for the airline and travel industries, as well as healthcare startups. Shortenwhich applies AI to clinical documentation.
We will stay tuned over the coming quarters to see if the share of AI funding remains at high levels and if the composition of investment recipients has changed.
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Illustration: Dom Guzman
Clarification: This story has changed since its original publication to correct a graphical error.
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