Venture Capital Funding For Artificial Intelligence Startups Hit Record High In 2018

AI startups experienced their best funding year ever, raising a record $9.33 billion, or nearly 10% of last year's total VC investments that reached $99.5 billion, an 18-year high since the dot-com era.Getty The Artificial Intelligence (AI) winter is definitely over. As venture capital (VC) funding nears record since the dot-com era, with U.S. companies raising $99.5 billion versus $119.6 billion in 2000 according to the latest PwC MoneyTree Report, AI startups also experienced their best year ever, raising a record $9.33 billion, or nearly 10% of last year's total VC investments. Since 2013, VC investments in AI startups had regularly increased over the following four years, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of about 36%. However, AI-related funding significantly jumped last year, increasing 72% compared to 2017, despite a dip in deal activity, with 466 startups funded from 533 in 2017, and after increasing for four years. The report also reveals that seed-stage deal activity among AI-related companies rose to 28% in the fourth-quarter of 2018, compared to 24% in the three months prior, while expansion-stage deal activity jumped to 32%, from 23%.