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Artificial intelligence took the venture industry by storm last year. That’s especially clear when you consider how many startups in the industry raised nine- and even ten-figure funding rounds in 2024. In fact, any company had to raise more than $1 billion in one go to even have a chance of topping this list of this year’s biggest funding rounds for AI startups. Let’s take a look.
1. Databricks, $10 billion: Databricks raises $10 billion at a valuation of $62 billion, making it the largest venture capital raise of 2024 and one of the largest in history. The new valuation is a 44% increase from the 2023 valuation of $43 billion. The San Francisco-based company uses tools like AI and machine learning to help companies quickly and efficiently process, analyze, and manage large amounts of data, and currently supports OpenAI, SpaceX , the fourth-highest rated U.S.-based startup after Stripe. Thrive Capital led Databricks’ new funding. The round was co-led by Andreessen Horowitz, DST Global, GIC, Insight Partners, and WCM Investment Management. Databrix said other major investors include existing investor Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan and new investors Iconic Growth, MGX, Sands Capital and Wellington Management. The company said it plans to use the new funding to develop new AI products, make acquisitions, expand internationally, and provide liquidity to current and former employees.
2. OpenAI, $6.6 billion: OpenAI has secured its second largest round of the year. Led by Thrive Capital, the company raised $6.6 billion at a post-money valuation of $157 billion. The round makes ChatGPT’s founder one of the most valuable private companies in the world and also includes investments from Altimeter Capital, Fidelity, Khosla Ventures, Microsoft, Nvidia, SoftBank, Abu Dhabi-based MGX, and more. Masu. It was also reported that SoftBank’s Vision Fund will invest $500 million in this round. The October funding comes as the company faces a myriad of challenges, including an exodus of senior employees and a reorganization that includes switching from a nonprofit to a for-profit charity and transferring stock to co-founder Sam Altman. It was carried out just as it was being done. company. This funding structure appears to take these factors into account, and is offered in the form of a convertible note, with investors able to ask for a refund if the changes are not completed within two years, and a cap on returns to investors. It is also reported that it has been abolished.
3. (tie) xAI, $6 billion: In May, xAI raised a $6 billion round that included investments from Valor Equity Partners, Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia Capital, Fidelity Management & Research Co., among others. The funding brings the company’s valuation to $24 billion post-money. And this deal isn’t the only time Elon Musk’s generative AI startup appears on this list. The company was founded in the summer of 2023 and released Grok, a ChatGPT competitor, in November 2023. Grok is trained on data from another company owned by Musk, X (formerly Twitter).
3. (Tie) xAI, $6 billion: It didn’t take long for xAI to reappear on this list. In November, xAI raised an additional $6 billion in a funding round valued at $50 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported. The new round includes investments from Qatar Investment Authority, Valor Equity Partners, Andreessen Horowitz and Sequoia Capital.
5. Waymo, $5.6 billion: Waymo, the self-driving car company spun out of Google’s research labs, faces major funding from its former parent company as Alphabet invests $5.6 billion in the company in a deal announced in October. received. The new round values the company at more than $45 billion and marks the startup’s first raise since a $2.5 billion round in 2021.
6. Anthropic, $4 billion: Also in November, Amazon agreed to invest an additional $4 billion in AI startup Anthropic, a ChatGPT rival with an AI assistant called Claude. In the fall of 2023, Amazon agreed to invest up to $4 billion in Anthropic, giving the Seattle-based e-commerce and cloud giant a minority stake in the company. The initial investment is $1.25 billion, with the remaining $2.75 billion expected to be raised early this year. The deal included Anthropic naming Amazon Web Services as its primary cloud provider and using AWS Trainium and Inferentia chips to build, train, and deploy its models. According to Anthropic’s blog, the new investment means Amazon will invest $8 billion in Anthropic and maintain a minority stake in the company.
7. (Tie) Anduril Industries, $1.5 billion: Anduril Industries tied its own record with the largest defense technology round in history. In August, the Costa Mesa, California-based startup secured a $1.5 billion Series F, valuing the company at $14 billion. This is a 69% increase from the $8.5 billion valuation it received after securing a massive $1.5 billion Series E in late 2022. It was co-led by Founders Fund and Sands Capital. The company plans to use some of the new proceeds to develop Arsenal-1. Arsenal-1 is more than 5 million square feet of production space designed to produce tens of thousands of autonomous military systems annually.
7. (tie) G42, $1.5 billion: In April, Microsoft made a $1.5 billion strategic investment in G42, an artificial intelligence company based in the United Arab Emirates. It’s nothing new that Microsoft is investing heavily in AI (see: OpenAI), but the deal with AI holding company G42 likely has other issues that need to be resolved before the deal is announced. accompanies. It was also reported that the agreement followed negotiations between the US and the G42 to divest from Chinese technology and reduce its presence in China. Earlier this year, the U.S. House of Representatives Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party sent a letter to the Commerce Department asking it to investigate the G-42.
9. (tie) CoreWeave, $1.1 billion: In May, AI cloud infrastructure startup CoreWeave secured a $1.1 billion round led by Coatue, valuing the company at $19 billion, according to the Wall Street Journal. It became. This valuation has nearly tripled from the company’s valuation in December 2023, when it was valued at $7 billion after the secondary sale. It is also a significant increase from the $2 billion valuation in the Series B extension in May 2023.
9. (Tie) Wayve, $1.1 billion: Also in May, London-based self-driving car startup Wayve raised approximately $1.1 billion worth of funding in a SoftBank-led round, making it the first UK startup to do so. became one of the largest financing deals in history. This shows investors’ continued enthusiasm for artificial intelligence in general. Nvidia and existing investor Microsoft also participated in the Series C funding. According to Crunchbase, Wave has now raised $1.3 billion. The valuation of the latest funding was not disclosed. The company’s self-driving car technology is based on embodied AI, or real-world objects such as robots (in this case vehicles) equipped with artificial intelligence software that interact with and continuously learn about the world. It works through the system. Travel through that environment.
Finally, four AI startups raised $1 billion in rounds this year: Moonshot AI, Safe Superintelligence, Scale AI, and Xaira Therapeutics.
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Illustration: Dom Guzman
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