This column is a look back at the week that was in AI. Read the previous one here.
Before the year started, we pontificated there might be a slowdown in venture dollars and for the first few weeks it was looking like that prediction might be borne out.
While the first half of January saw some nice-sized funding rounds for AI startups, extremely big rounds were nonexistent. In fact, there were no rounds of $100 million or more until the month’s waning days (both Rebellions.ai and Kore.ai announced big raises on Jan. 30).
Overall, the month saw less than $2.2 billion go to AI startups, per Crunchbase data. That came after a year that saw more than $50 billion invested in the AI space.
February, however, has told a very different story — highlighted this week with reports China’s artificial intelligence startup Moonshot AI raised more than $1 billion in a funding round led by the Alibaba Group Holding and HongShan, formerly Sequoia Capital China.
In total, the first three weeks of the month have already seen more than $2.6 billion invested — including a half-dozen rounds of $100 million or more — with still a week-and-a-half left.
Aside from the Moonshot AI raise — the first $1 billion AI round of the year — other large rounds in the last week-plus include:
On top of all of that, it has been reported other big-name AI startups such as Scale AI and Perplexity AI may be raising at big valuations.
That predicted slowdown — which many VCs really believed was coming — seems to be more mythical than the unicorn.
Illustration: Dom Guzman
This column is a look back at the week that was in AI. Read the previous one here.
Before the year started, we pontificated there might be a slowdown in venture dollars and for the first few weeks it was looking like that prediction might be borne out.
While the first half of January saw some nice-sized funding rounds for AI startups, extremely big rounds were nonexistent. In fact, there were no rounds of $100 million or more until the month’s waning days (both Rebellions.ai and Kore.ai announced big raises on Jan. 30).
Overall, the month saw less than $2.2 billion go to AI startups, per Crunchbase data. That came after a year that saw more than $50 billion invested in the AI space.
February, however, has told a very different story — highlighted this week with reports China’s artificial intelligence startup Moonshot AI raised more than $1 billion in a funding round led by the Alibaba Group Holding and HongShan, formerly Sequoia Capital China.
In total, the first three weeks of the month have already seen more than $2.6 billion invested — including a half-dozen rounds of $100 million or more — with still a week-and-a-half left.
Aside from the Moonshot AI raise — the first $1 billion AI round of the year — other large rounds in the last week-plus include:
On top of all of that, it has been reported other big-name AI startups such as Scale AI and Perplexity AI may be raising at big valuations.
That predicted slowdown — which many VCs really believed was coming — seems to be more mythical than the unicorn.
Illustration: Dom Guzman