October Shows Sector’s Crazy Venture Totals Still Abound

This column is a glance again on the week that was in AI. Learn the earlier one here.

Whereas it was not surprising to see AI because the main sector in October’s venture funding numbers, it was intriguing to see the sector additionally had its second-strongest fundraising month of all time.

Final month, AI-related startups raised $12.2 billion in funding — per Crunchbase data — or 38% of whole month-to-month enterprise funding globally. That’s solely behind Might of this yr, when related startups raised a whopping $12.8 billion led by Elon Musk’s generative AI startup, xAI, elevating a $6 billion Sequence B spherical at a $24 billion valuation.

Equally, final month additionally had a very huge spherical — OpenAI’s long-awaited elevate of $6.6 billion at a post-money valuation of $157 billion — however it appears nearly each month has a very huge AI elevate.

Moreover, even eliminating OpenAI’s large spherical, October’s numbers nonetheless imply AI startups raised greater than $6.6 billion final month. That quantity is all of the extra spectacular when one considers in August and September AI startups raised solely $8.7 billion mixed.

October’s enterprise greenback quantity simply bested September’s almost $4.3 billion raised, regardless of the very fact September noticed greater than 100 extra AI associated rounds — 522 in September in comparison with 413 in October.

Maybe not surprisingly, one of many causes for the upper greenback determine regardless of fewer rounds was possible the plethora of big nine-figure rounds in October. Final month noticed 11 offers of $100 million or extra, in comparison with solely 13 in August and September mixed.

A few of the largest rounds (other than OpenAI) included:

The greenback quantity together with the number of AI startups elevating cash — from coding to chips to dialog AI — appears to indicate that August’s and September’s little lull in AI funding was only a transient interlude earlier than one other VC eruption.

It’s been almost two years because the world fell into its present AI craze and October exhibits there isn’t a finish in sight. In AI, even when numbers appear to return again to actuality, the following explosion in enterprise {dollars} is simply across the nook.

Associated Crunchbase Professional question:

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Illustration: Dom Guzman