Q2'18 was good to US-based AI startups

PwC and CB Insight's MoneyTree Report documenting VC investments for Q2'18 found that funding to US-based artificial intelligence companies increased 21 per cent this quarter to $2.3 billion. In the report Anand Rao, PwC's Global Artificial Intelligence Leader, says "Q2'18 was a second-straight record quarter for total Artificial Intelligence (AI) funding," and eight rounds bringing in over $100 million to US-based AI startups "contributed to the record total." The total number of deals to US-based artificial intelligence companies were "flat" this quarter, declining by one deal from Q1 to a total of 124 deals. The money didn't come from the volume of deals, evidently, it came from increased funding given in funding rounds: total funding rose from $1.9 billion in Q1 to $2.3 billion in Q2. According to the report, Q2's increase in total funding was helped by "later-stage deals" at companies like Dataminr, who had a $392 million Series E funding round, and CrowdStrike, who had a $200 million Series E funding round.