Where VC's Will Invest in 2018: Blockchain, AI, Voice, Pets

Venture capital isn't a monolith, but startup investors are compared to lemmings for a reason. Once a trend gets hot, every firm needs to make a play, or come up with a good excuse for missing out. Investors continue to aggressively pour money into startups. As of the third quarter, US investors were on track to match or exceed 2016's $69 billion in investments, according to the National Venture Capital Association and Pitchbook. For startups, riding a trend such as artificial intelligence can be the difference between a hot round of funding and no investor interest. Founders have spent the last year throwing terms like blockchain, neural network, and machine learning into their pitch decks in hopes of attracting investment.