Despite an overall decline in venture capital funding, AI startups have raised $11.8 billion in the past 90 days, accounting for 30% of total VC funding in the third quarter of 2024, Cointelegraph reported.
Investor interest in AI startups remains strong despite increased U.S. export restrictions on AI chips, valuation uncertainty and disappointing early earnings from startups.
Stocklytics analyst Neil Roarty noted that $11.8 billion is close to the quarterly average for 2023 and 2024, excluding the record $29.6 billion in the second quarter of 2024.
The number of deals fell 28% year-over-year, from 110 to 79 during the same period in 2023. Overall venture capital activity also fell 13% year-over-year.
Crunchbase data shows that investors have invested nearly $53 billion in AI so far this year, a 35% increase from the first three quarters of 2023. This includes OpenAI's recent $6.6 billion financing, which valued it at $157 billion.
As of this quarter, the cumulative amount of funding in the AI ââfield has exceeded $241 billion, of which US companies have raised 65%, or $155 billion. Asian AI startups have raised $53 billion, and European AI companies have received $3.02 billion.
A key strategy for venture investors is the convergence of AI and blockchain technology. Cosmo Jiang, a portfolio manager at Pantera Capital, said he is particularly interested in opportunities where AI and crypto merge.
Investment manager VanEck announced a new venture fund on Oct. 9 targeting AI and crypto startups, providing $30 million for seed and early-stage companies.
