Despite some AI fatigue, venture investors remain enthusiastic, pouring significant funds into AI startups. In the first half of 2024, over $35.5 billion was invested globally in AI startups, with U.S. companies capturing a substantial portion of these funds. Here are the U.S.-based AI startups that raised $100 million or more so far in 2024:
July
1. Hebbia – $130 million
- Lead Investor: Andreessen Horowitz
- Other Investors: Peter Thiel, Index Ventures, Google Ventures
- Focus: Generative AI for document search
- Valuation: $700 million
- 2. Skild AI – $300 million
- Lead Investors: Lightspeed Venture Partners, Coatue, Bezos Expeditions
- Other Investors: Sequoia, Menlo Ventures, General Catalyst
- Focus: Technology for robotics
- Valuation: $1.5 billion
June
3. Bright Machines – $106 million
- Lead Investor: BlackRock
- Other Investors: Nvidia, Microsoft, Eclipse Ventures
- Focus: Smart robotics and AI-driven software
- Total Funding: $437 million
4. Etched.ai – $120 million
- Lead Investors: Primary Venture Partners, Positive Sum
- Other Investors: Two Sigma Ventures, Peter Thiel, Kyle Vogt
- Focus: AI chips
- Location: San Francisco
5. EvolutionaryScale – $142 million
- Lead Investors: Lux Capital, Nat Friedman, Daniel Gross
- Focus: Biological AI models for therapeutic design
- Location: New York
6. AKASA – $120 million
- Lead Investors: Andreessen Horowitz, Costanoa Ventures, Bond
- Focus: Healthcare revenue cycle automation
- Location: San Francisco
7. AlphaSense – $650 million
- Lead Investors: Viking Global Investors, BDT & MSD Partners
- Other Investors: CapitalG, SoftBank Vision Fund, Goldman Sachs
- Focus: Market intelligence platform
- Valuation: $4 billion
- Location: New York
May
8. xAI – $6 billion
- Lead Investors: Sequoia, Valor Equity Partners, Fidelity
- Focus: AI platform for scientific discovery
- Valuation: $24 billion
- Founder: Elon Musk
9. Scale AI – $1 billion
- Lead Investor: Accel
- Other Investors: Tiger Global, Spark Capital, Amazon
- Focus: Data-labeling services
- Valuation: $14 billion
- Location: San Francisco
10. Suno – $125 million
- Lead Investors: Founder Collective, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Matrix
- Focus: AI music creation
- Valuation: $500 million
- Location: Cambridge, Massachusetts
11. Weka – $140 million
- Lead Investor: Valor Equity Partners
- Other Investors: Qualcomm Ventures, Nvidia, Hitachi Ventures
- Focus: AI-native data platform
- Valuation: $1.6 billion
- Location: Silicon Valley
12. CoreWeave – $1.1 billion
- Lead Investor: Coatue
- Other Investors: Fidelity, Altimeter Capital, Magnetar Capital
- Focus: GPU infrastructure
- Valuation: $19 billion
- Location: New Jersey
April
13. Blaize – $106 million
- Lead Investors: Temasek, Franklin Templeton, Bess Ventures
- Focus: AI computing platform
- Total Funding: $242 million
- Location: Silicon Valley
14. Augment – $227 million
- Lead Investors: Lightspeed Venture Partners, Index Ventures, Sutter Hill Ventures
- Focus: AI coding assistance
- Valuation: Nearly $1 billion
- Location: Palo Alto
15. Cognition – $175 million
- Lead Investor: Founders Fund
- Other Investors: Eric Glyman, Patrick and John Collison, Tony Xu
- Focus: Applied AI lab
- Valuation: Nearly $2 billion
- Location: Palo Alto
16. Xaira Therapeutics – $1 billion
- Lead Investors: Foresite Capital, ARCH Venture Partners
- Other Investors: Sequoia, NEA, Lux Capital
- Focus: AI drug discovery
- Location: San Francisco
17. Cyera – $300 million
- Lead Investor: Coatue
- Other Investors: Sequoia, Redpoint, Accel
- Focus: AI-powered data security
- Valuation: $1.4 billion
- Location: New York
March
18. Celestial AI – $175 million
- Lead Investor: US Innovative Technology Fund
- Other Investors: M Ventures, Temasek, Tyche Partners
- Focus: Optical interconnect technology
- Total Funding: $338 million
19. FundGuard – $100 million
- Lead Investor: Key1 Capital
- Other Investors: Hamilton Lane, Blumberg Capital, Team8
- Focus: AI-powered investment accounting
- Valuation: $400 million
- Location: New York
20. Together AI – $106 million
- Lead Investor: Salesforce Ventures
- Other Investors: NEA, Kleiner Perkins, Lux Capital
- Focus: AI model infrastructure
- Valuation: $1.2 billion
21. Zephyr AI – $111 million
- Lead Investors: Revolution Growth, Eli Lilly and Company Foundation, EPIQ Capital Group, Jeff Skoll
- Focus: AI-enhanced drug discovery and precision medicine
- Location: Fairfax Station, Virginia
February
22. Glean – $203 million
- Lead Investors: Lightspeed Venture Partners, Kleiner Perkins
- Other Investors: Sequoia, Databricks Ventures
- Focus: AI-driven enterprise search
- Valuation: $2.2 billion
- Location: Silicon Valley
23. Figure – $675 million
- Lead Investors: Nvidia, OpenAI, Microsoft
- Focus: AI robotics
- Valuation: $2.7 billion
- Location: Silicon Valley
24. Abridge – $150 million
- Lead Investors: Redpoint, Lightspeed Venture Partners
- Other Investors: USV, IVP, Spark Capital
- Focus: AI medical transcription
- Valuation: $850 million
- Location: Pittsburgh
25. Recogni – $102 million
- Lead Investors: GreatPoint Ventures, Celesta Capital
- Other Investors: Pledge Ventures, Mayfield, DNS Capital
- Focus: AI interface solutions
26. Lambda – $320 million
- Lead Investors: US Innovative Technology Fund
- Other Investors: Gradient Ventures, Mercato Partners, T. Rowe Price
- Focus: Deep learning infrastructure
- Location: San Francisco
27. Magic – $117 million
- Lead Investors: NFDG Ventures, CapitalG, Elad Gil
- Focus: AI coding
- Location: San Francisco
January
28. Kore.ai – $150 million
- Lead Investor: FTV Capital
- Other Investors: Nvidia, Vistara Growth, NextEquity Partners
- Focus: Conversational AI for enterprises
- Total Funding: $223 million
- Location: Orlando, Florida
Conclusion
The AI sector continues to attract significant investment, with numerous U.S.-based startups raising substantial funds in 2024. These investments reflect the growing importance and potential of AI technologies across various industries. As these companies continue to innovate and expand, they are likely to play pivotal roles in shaping the future of artificial intelligence.
See also: Understanding AI Agent: The Next Big Thing In Artificial Intelligence
