• AI startups are the second most well-funded kind of startup, just behind those focused on machine learning.
• Startups focused on AI software have raised $67 billion worldwide in funding rounds.
• The fervour around AI is only increasing, with startups in 2024 seeing more funding in fewer rounds.

If your startup just so happens to be focused on artificial intelligence (AI) technology, chances are that it will receive the necessary funding to be successful. According to data presented by Stocklytics.com, AI-focused startups are the second-most well-funded kind of startups right now, beaten only by machine learning startups which are the most well-funded.

Statistics show that machine learning startups around the world have raised $79 billion in funding rounds, with AI software startups just behind at $67 billion worldwide. The third spot goes to AI analytics startups, which have managed to raise $29 billion.

With estimates positing that generative AI could add up to $4.4 trillion annually to the global economy, it is no wonder why investors and venture capitalists are keeping their eyes and their money on the two letters, wherever they may pop up.

AI startups continue to draw attention from potential funders as the fervour around the technology has seemingly only increased. Last year, these types of startups were shown to have raised a total of $25.5 billion in funding rounds. Now in the last two months, these startups are already outperforming figures from the beginning of 2023, showing the appeal in fact, getting stronger.

The data shows that in the last two months, $5.7 billion has been raised, almost 40 percent more than at a similar time last year. In totality, the incredibly successful AI startup market has climbed to the cumulative value of an eye-watering $173.5 billion, at least according to data from Stocklytics.

Also worth noting is that while the total funding amount increased, the number of funding rounds dropped, showing AI startups managed to raise more fresh capital in fewer funding rounds. Data from Crunchbase shows AI startups saw 46 VC investments this year-to-date, down from 86 in Q1 2023.

This means that startups in the space are making more money with less work, probably because it isn’t hard to pitch a technology that seemingly all of tech is getting behind.

From Google, to Samsung, to Grammarly, even the edutech firms are looking into and investing in generative AI. The Next Big Thing in tech wasn’t the Metaverse (sorry, Zuck), it was AI.

In 2023, the fabulously wealthy Bill Gates said the innovation was “the most important advance in technology since the graphical interface.” People don’t want to miss this kind of boom. Some who have already missed it are now kicking themselves for it.

[Image – Photo by Igor Omilaev on Unsplash]