Companies in the artificial intelligence vertical raised nearly US$50 billion year-to-date globally, according to data compiled by data analytics company AltIndex.com.
This is the second-highest figure in the global market’s history.
The global AI industry has more than doubled in just three years, reaching a US$240 billion value and a quarter of a billion users worldwide. This impressive growth has drawn much attention from VC investors who poured billions of dollars into AI companies and startups. Despite the VC funding slowdown, the strong fundraising activity continued this year, tuning 2023 into the second-best year for fundraising in the AI market’s history after 2021.
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According to Crunchbase data, AI companies and startups raised US$78.5 billion in 2021 alone, more than double the amount seen in 2020. After a fantastic 2021, the fundraising activity dropped by 42 per cent year-over-year, but AI companies still raised a massive US$45.2 billion in 2022.
However, statistics show 2023 was even more successful, with companies and startups in this space raising US$4.5 billion more than last year, or US$49.8 billion in total.
Nearly 60 per cent of that value, or US$28.8 billion, was raised in the first half of the year, showing a slight 4 per cent drop compared to last year. But the fundraising activity soared in the year’s second half, with AI companies raising another US$20.9 billion in funding rounds, almost 40 per cent more than in H2 2022.
While the total funding amount increased by US$4.5 billion year-over-year, the number of investments was below 2022 figures, meaning that AI companies managed to raise more fresh capital in fewer funding rounds. Statistics show the AI industry saw 842 VC investments this year, down from 1,101 in 2022.
With nearly US$50 billion raised in funding rounds this year, the cumulative funding amount in the AI space has climbed to an impressive US$333 billion.
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Around 55 per cent of that value, or US$189 billion, went to companies from the US, with California as the leading hub. Asian AI companies raised the second-highest value in funding rounds, or over US$96 billion, and European companies followed with US$35.3 billion in total funding.
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