$291.3Bn (USD) was invested across 10,230 deals. This represents a substantial amount of funding, demonstrating continued interest and trust in AI technologies.
Top AI Segment by Investment
Generative AI: Dominates the list with over 1974 deals since 2019, signaling a significant focus on tools that improve operational efficiency, workflow automation, and business intelligence.
AI Power Drug Discovery: With 133 deals since 2019, this highlights the importance of AI in medical technologies and related technologies.
AI in Foodtech: With 119 deals since 2019, this is a new category that emerged over the past 5 years.
LLM Agents: These tools, aiding in AI/ML application development, garnered 93 deals.
Digital Twins: A new category that emerged with great interest, garnered 78 deals.
4. Investment Trends Over Time
The average deal size for Seed Stage in Q4 2024 increased by 2.5x to $5.1m from $2.0m in Q1 2020.
The average deal size for Series A in Q4 2024 increased by 2.8x to $24.3m from $8.5m in Q1 2020.
2019–2021 Growth: Investments increased significantly, peaking in 2021 at $315 million. This growth aligns with the AI boom during the pandemic, as companies sought digital transformation and automation.
2022–2023 Decline: Funding dropped to $250 million in 2022 and $157 million in 2023, possibly due to market corrections, macroeconomic uncertainties, and rising interest rates impacting VC funding.
2024 Recovery: Investments rebounded sharply to $450 million, driven by a renewed focus on generative AI, large language models, and their applications across industries.
5. Key Observations
Industry Dynamics: The dominance of software-related sectors (business, financial, and development tools) reflects the software-first nature of AI commercialization.
Hardware Investment: Moderate funding in AI-specific semiconductors suggests that while critical, it is not the largest driver of current VC interest.
Sector Diversity: The presence of industries like automotive underscores the versatility of AI and its penetration into traditional sectors.
Total Investment in Seed, Series A/A+
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
Generative AI
$1,043.70
$2,082.30
$2,797.80
$4,371.60
$4,262.70
Autonomous Trucking
$3,265.20
$98.40
$256.80
$20.00
AI-powered Drug Discovery
$134.40
$366.30
$159.50
$67.80
$1,129.90
AI neoclouds
$8.60
$376.00
$31.10
$54.00
$288.50
Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) Research
$2.40
$27.20
$66.00
$509.00
LLM Agents
$26.70
$67.00
$51.30
$117.50
$276.20
AI in Foodtech
$34.20
$86.20
$108.10
$34.60
$46.30
Indoor Farming
$10.70
$72.90
$141.70
$35.80
$19.50
AI-powered Code Completion
$13.60
$51.20
$37.90
$19.50
$118.10
High Performance Computing
$0.10
$98.90
$30.10
$104.00
$3.60
Quantum Computing
$21.40
$61.80
$50.10
$69.50
$33.50
Digital Twins
$62.20
$29.40
$26.80
$72.70
$29.40
Synthetic Data
$20.30
$30.30
$36.00
$32.90
$79.80
Humanoid Robotics
$13.00
$11.80
$17.50
$95.70
$33.00
* Sources available in the Octagon app
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