The year 2023 has been a significant one in boosting rapid growth in generative AI. One of the most crucial developments witnessed by the tech industry this year, along with AI’s growth, was a wave of acquisitions by major tech companies that strategically invested in AI startups to incorporate AI innovations into their current product and service portfolios.
AI companies also experienced a strategic surge, securing substantial financing to drive innovation and transform the industry. Here is a list of the top 7 AI startup fundings that are making waves in the tech industry.
Anthropic: $1.25 billion
In 2023, Anthropic released the ChatGPT rival Claude 2 and Claude 2.1. With participation from Google, Salesforce Ventures, Zoom Ventures, Sound Ventures, and Spark Capital, it secured $450 million in Series C fundraising, among other investors backing up the ongoing research and development of beneficial, safe, and trustworthy artificial intelligence (AI) systems.
Anthropic has successfully raised an impressive total of $1.25 billion in funding, positioning itself as a formidable player in the AI landscape. In August 2023, it secured a $100 million investment from SK Telecom. The pinnacle of their funding journey came in October 2023, when Google committed $2 billion, emphasizing the tech giant’s unwavering support for Anthropic’s mission of advancing safe and beneficial AI.
Databricks: $1.05 billion
Databricks, the prominent data science and engineering platform company, raised $1.05 billion in a Series G funding round in 2023. This funding round witnessed substantial participation from an array of existing investors, including CapitalG, Coatue Management, Delta Capital, Fidelity Management & Research Company, Franklin Templeton, Goldman Sachs Asset Management, T. Rowe Price Associates, and NEA.
The investment is intended to propel Databricks’ product development and go-to-market initiatives, amplifying its global presence and fueling advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) technologies.
Sierra Space: $290 million
This spaceflight company has also raised $290 million in funding from investors, including Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and General Catalyst. The funding journey includes a $1.4 billion Series A round in November 2021, featuring key players like BlackRock, General Atlantic, AE Industrial Partners, Coatue, and Moore Strategic Ventures.
Notably, in September 2023, Sierra Space secured an additional $290 million in a Series B round led by Japanese investors MUFG Bank, Kanematsu Corporation, and Tokio Marine Holdings, with robust participation from existing backers. Sierra Space has demonstrated a prudent approach to utilizing its funding, prioritizing investments in research and development, talent acquisition, and infrastructure.
OpenAI: $100 million
This year was a leap for OpenAI towards innovations, although the company dealt with the CEO’s firing. With the introduction of the language model GPT, it brought along GPT 4, GPT 4V, and DALL-E 2. It is working with the intention of developing GPT-5, a successor to GPT-4 that is expected to be even more powerful and versatile.
OpenAI has successfully raised a substantial $100 million in funding in 2023 from influential contributors, including technology giant Microsoft, which contributed $35 million; venture capital firms Sequoia Capital and Andreessen Horowitz, each providing $25 million; and Thrive Capital with a significant investment of $15 million.
Cohere: $100 million
Cohere secured a remarkable $100 million Series C funding round in 2023. Inovia Capital led the investment, with major participation from investors such as Google Ventures, Sequoia Capital, and Founders Fund, underscoring Cohere’s standing in the AI landscape and its potential to redefine NLP applications.
This strategic investment aims to refine CLLM-128 further, broadening its applicability across diverse NLP tasks and making it accessible to a wider user base. As Cohere charts a course for the future with its $100 million funding, the company is poised to play a central role in reshaping the landscape of NLP.
Moveworks: $100 million
Moveworks announced a significant funding milestone 2023, securing $100 million in a Series D funding round. Insight Partners led the Series D funding round, with participation from existing investors such as Kleiner Perkins and Sequoia Capital.
The funding accelerates Moveworks’ product development, expands its sales and marketing efforts, and enhances its customer support capabilities. These investments will enable Moveworks to refine its AI platform further, broaden its customer base, and provide even greater value to IT organizations.
Frame AI: $85 million
Frame AI announced its funding in 2023, securing $85 million in a Series B funding round. This substantial investment underscores the company’s growing prominence in AI and its potential to revolutionize various industries with its advanced computer vision solutions.
Tiger Global led the Series B funding round, with participation from existing investors such as Andreessen Horowitz and NEA. The funding will be primarily used to accelerate Frame AI’s product development, expand its engineering team, and enhance its infrastructure capabilities.
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