From Q1 2023 to Q1 2024, the AI market has drawn a world’s worth of attention from thousands upon thousands of venture capital (VC) investors and business leaders looking to make the most of this rising AI wave.
How much attention does that equal dollars-wise, you may ask?
Well if you’re reading this article, then you’ve seen its title – therein, the answer:
According to Stocklytics, AI startups were able to raise approximately $25.5 billion in funding rounds last year.
Another way to look at that data? It’s $5.7 billion year-to-date (almost 40% more than this time last year), and that’s big.
What’s bigger, though, is the cumulative funding of AI startups from Q1 2014 to Q1 2024 – from 1.3 billion to 173.5 billion in total funding, to be exact.
That’s a mountain of AI cheddar.
This surge in VC investments is, the way we see it, a bona fide testament to the burgeoning potential of AI for Q2 of 2024, let alone the rest of the year on into 2025. Though we know AI is far from flawless, the aforementioned $25.5 billion underscores a remarkable attraction this sector’s appeal has for investors.
Let’s scavenge for more context:
The AI market has experienced unquestionably explosive growth; projections indicate that it may reach $305 billion in revenue with 315 million users within the year. Where VC funding may be a tinge diminished in other sectors, it has tripled down at the throne built for AI. (Note: This phrasing is not meant to inflate or gush over AI; again, no system is perfect. This is simply commentary on the data trends.)
Furthermore (and speaking of more data), Crunchbase has reported that – in 2021, even before we were introduced to the likes of ChatGPT – fundraising records were set for AI startups keen on the possibilities ahead; “startups working in the AI space raised a whopping $49.6 billion, more than double the figure reported a year before.” And after a minor downturn in 2022 (emphasis on “minor,” as we’re still talking billions here), AI’s resurgence blew away VC investment statistics.
And again, as mentioned, the cumulative funding in the AI startup market now stands at $173.6 billion. The U.S. (particularly in California, it being a leading hub for this AI-everywhere push) still holds the mantle for top AI investments, accounting for more than 55% of total funding. (Asian AI startups follow with $46.7 billion raised, and European companies with $23.8 billion.) Also, machine learning (ML)-specific startups raised even more capital, amassing $79 billion to date, followed by AI software and AI analytics-focused startups.
Overall, this data illustrates the significant investor confidence and financial investment flowing into the AI sector, highlighting its all-but-guaranteed role in shaping critical technological advancements and applications for the future.
We’ll see where this takes us, readers.
Edited by
Greg Tavarez
