AI Venture Funding Surges: .9 Billion Raised in Q3 2024

AI Venture Funding Surges: $18.9 Billion Raised in Q3 2024

November 16, 2024 Catherine Williams - Chief Editor Tech

For many, AI fatigue exists, but venture investors remain enthusiastic about the field.

In the third quarter, AI startups secured $18.9 billion in funding, accounting for 28% of total venture capital, according to Crunchbase. Notably, OpenAI completed the largest venture deal ever by raising $6.6 billion, part of a total of six AI funding rounds exceeding $1 billion this year.

Several U.S.-based AI companies raised over $100 million in 2024:

November

  • Physical Intelligence: This startup, founded in 2024, raised $400 million in a Series A round on November 4, reaching a valuation above $2 billion. Investors included Jeff Bezos, Lux Capital, and Sequoia.

October

  • Sierra: AI chatbot firm led by Bret Taylor raised $175 million. Valued at nearly $4.5 billion, this funding involved Greenoaks and Thrive Capital.
  • Nimble Robotics: The autonomous warehouse robotics company secured $106 million in Series C funding on October 23, achieving a valuation of $1.1 billion. The round was co-led by FedEx.
  • Lightmatter: This photonic computing startup raised $400 million in Series D funding on October 16, valuing the company at $4.4 billion.
  • Path Robotics: Announced a $100 million Series D round on October 14, led by Matter Venture Partners, reaching a valuation of $1 billion.
  • EvenUp: An AI legaltech firm raised $135 million in its Series D round on October 8, valuing it at $1 billion.
  • KoBold Metals: The company raised $491.5 million in an undisclosed funding round.
  • Poolside: This AI software development platform secured $500 million in Series B funding on October 2, valued at $3 billion.
  • OpenAI: Announced a groundbreaking $6.6 billion funding on October 2, valuing the company at $157 billion.

September

  • Glean: Raised $260 million in a Series E round, reaching a valuation of $4.5 billion, reflecting an 87.5% increase since February.
  • Safe Superintelligence: Co-founded by former OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever, the lab raised $1 billion at a $4 billion valuation on September 4.

August

  • Magic: Secured $320 million in Series C funding on August 29, with previous backing of $117 million in February.
  • Codeium: An AI coding platform raised $150 million in Series C funding, reaching a valuation of $1.2 billion.
  • DevRev: Raised $100 million in Series A, reaching a $1.1 billion valuation.
  • Abnormal Security: Raised $250 million in Series D funding, achieving over $5 billion in valuation.
  • Groq: An AI chip startup raised $640 million in Series D funding, valued at over $3 billion.

July

  • World Labs: Founded by AI researcher Fei-Fei Li, raised $100 million in July, valued at over $1 billion.
  • Harvey: A legal tech company raised $100 million in Series C funding on July 23, reaching a valuation of $1.5 billion.
  • Hebbia: Raised $130 million in July, achieving a $700 million valuation.
  • Skild AI: Announced a $300 million Series A round on July 9, reaching a valuation of $1.5 billion.

June

  • Bright Machines: Raised $106 million on June 25, with total funding exceeding $437 million.
  • Etched.ai: Secured $120 million in Series A funding, focusing on AI model chip development.
  • EvolutionaryScale: Raised $142 million for its biological AI models on June 25.
  • AKASA: Secured $120 million in funding, totaling $205 million so far.
  • AlphaSense: Raised $650 million in Series F funding, recently valued at $4 billion.

May

  • xAI: Elon Musk’s startup raised $6 billion in Series B funding, valued at $24 billion.
  • Scale AI: Secured $1 billion, doubling its valuation to $13.8 billion.
  • Suno: Raised $125 million, valuing the company at $500 million.
  • Weka: Raised $140 million, achieving a $1.6 billion valuation.
  • CoreWeave: Secured $1.1 billion in Series C funding, valued at $19 billion.

April

  • Blaize: Raised $106 million in Series D funding announced on April 29.
  • Augment: Closed $227 million in Series B funding on April 24.
  • Cognition: Raised $175 million, valuing it at nearly $2 billion.
  • Xaira Therapeutics: Secured $1 billion in Series A funding.
  • Cyera: Obtained $300 million in Series C funding, valued at $1.4 billion.

March

  • Celestial AI: Raised $175 million in Series C funding on March 27, totaling $338 million.
  • FundGuard: Raised $100 million in Series C funding, valuing it at $400 million.
  • Together AI: Announced a $106 million Series A round.
  • Zephyr AI: Closed $111 million in Series A funding.

February

  • Glean: Raised $203 million, valuing the startup at $2.2 billion.
  • Figure: Secured $675 million in Series B funding.
  • Abridge: Raised $150 million, totaling $850 million in valuation.
  • Recogni: Closed $102 million in Series C funding.
  • Lambda: Raised $320 million, valuing it at $1.5 billion.
  • Magic: Secured $117 million in Series B funding.

January

  • Kore.ai: Raised $150 million in Series D funding.

This information is up to date as of mid-November 2024, covering a range of notable funding rounds in the AI sector.