Clarifai is a leading, full-lifecycle deep learning AI platform for computer vision, natural language processing, and audio recognition. We help organizations transform unstructured images, video, text, and audio data into structured data at a significantly faster and more accurate rate than humans would be able to do on their own. Founded in 2013 by Matt Zeiler, Ph.D. Clarifai has been a market leader in AI since winning the top five places in image classification at the 2013 ImageNet Challenge. Clarifai continues to grow with employees remotely based throughout the United States and in Tallinn, Estonia. We have raised $100M in funding to date, with $60M coming from our most recent Series C, and are backed by industry leaders like Menlo Ventures, Union Square Ventures, Lux Capital, New Enterprise Associates, LDV Capital, Corazon Capital, Google Ventures, NVIDIA, Qualcomm and Osage.

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Seeking to bring greater security to AI systems, Protect AI today raised $13.5 million in a seed-funding round co-led by Acrew Capital and Boldstart Ventures with participation from Knollwood Capital, Pelion Ventures and Aviso Ventures. Ian Swanson, the co-founder and CEO, said that the capital will be put toward product development and customer outreach as Protect AI emerges from stealth. Protect AI claims to be one of the few security companies focused entirely on developing tools to defend AI systems and machine learning models from exploits. Its product suite aims to help developers identify and fix AI and machine learning security vulnerabilities at various stages of the machine learning life cycle, Swanson explains, including vulnerabilities that could expose sensitive data. "As machine learning models usage grows exponentially in production use cases, we see AI builders needing products and solutions to make AI systems more secure, while recognizing the unique needs and threats surrounding machine learning code," Swanson told TechCrunch in an email interview. "We have researched and uncovered unique exploits and provide tools to reduce risk inherent in [machine learning] pipelines."

A look at the venture capitalists who are currently investing in AI (artificial intelligence) firms. Although the idea of robots used to be somewhat unsettling, a lot of money is currently being invested in the architecture and systems that enable machines to learn and grow on their own without the assistance of humans. According to PwC's 2018 Moneytree Report, which was just released, $9.3 billion was invested in AI firms in 2017. This enormous number demonstrates the growing interest in technology and the growing understanding of its potential among public and commercial sector donors. Artificial intelligence crosses all business areas, from self-driving vehicle AI operating systems to self-learning language processing platforms. Venture capital companies are hopping on the bandwagon to finance the minds behind the initiatives since they have the potential to disrupt so many industries, putting them ahead of the curve. The most well-known venture capital firms investing in AI technology are listed below, with an overview of their goals.

Synatic, a leader in data integration and automation, has secured an additional $2.5 million in a seed extension funding round led by Allan Gray E-Squared Ventures and UW Ventures. Synatic will use the additional funds to expand market reach in the United States in preparation for Series A funding early in 2023. Participating in the seed extension round are Allan Gray E-Squared Ventures (AGEV), UW Ventures, Adansonia PE Opportunities VCC, and the Endeavor Harvest Fund. AGEV and UW Ventures are leading investment management and venture firms based in South Africa. Adansonia PE Opportunities VCC (APEO) is an African opportunities permanent capital structure based in Singapore.

This week, craft beer company Bira landed new funding to expand its geographic reach while Torr FoodTech grabbed $12 million for its unusual and tech-centric approach to snack bars. In agtech, Clarifruit also raised $12 million while more layoffs struck the food delivery sector. Craft beer maker Bira 91 lands $70 million round led by beer company Kirin. Bira will use the funding to build more breweries and expand geographical reach of the Bira line of beverages. Sustainable grocery startup Modern Milkman raises £50 million ($60 million) after Series C close.

If you are interested in the self-driving car market, you may know Waabi. This startup, founded by Raquel Urtasun, former Chief Scientist of Uber's Advanced Technology Groupcreated a surprise in June 2021 by raising no less than $83.5 million. Among the supporters of the young company, we find big names like Uber, Aurora Innovation, Radical Ventures, 8VC and OMERS Ventures. The founder of Waabi is a artificial intelligence specialist who once led the autonomous vehicle division of the famous ride-hailing company. And after this highlighting, the startup has just announced this Wednesday, November 16, 2022 the launch of a new "turnkey" solution for semi-trailer manufacturers who wish to make their fleet autonomous.

If there's one thing that gets the attention of investors, even in uncertain times like these, it's data efficiency. Data is the fuel for machine learning models, and getting it from point A to point B can be expensive and time-consuming. That's why a startup that can help make that process move faster and with less friction is probably going to be valuable. Such is the case with Weka, a company that has come up with a way to virtualize data to make it easier to move between sources without having to make a copy first. Today, the company announced a $135 million Series D investment on a $750 million valuation, big numbers in today's conservative funding environment.

Dataloop, a Tel Aviv, Israel-based technology company that builds data infrastructure and a data operating system for AI companies, raised $33M in Series B funding. The round was led by NGP Capital and Alpha Wave Ventures, with participation from Amiti Ventures, F2 Venture Capital, and OurCrowd. The company intends to use the funds for global expansion, specifically by building teams in the US, Europe, and India. Led by CEO Eran Shlomo, Dataloop provides a platform for businesses of any size to move their AI project into production from start to finish, for uplifting AI effectiveness across many industries including retail, agriculture, robotics, autonomous vehicles, construction, and more. The data centric platform offers a developer-first full data life-cycle management platform in order to speed up this process.

Christian Noske joined NGP Capital in October 2021 as a Partner. He focuses on investments in the Intelligent Enterprise and Smart Mobility areas. Prior to NGP Capital, he was Partner at Target Global, the founding Managing Director of Alliance Ventures (Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi) and founding Partner at BMWi Ventures, where he focused on Enterprise Software, Industrial Tech and Automotive Tech. NGP Capital is a global venture capital firm with over $1.6 billion under management, investing in growth-stage technology companies within the Edge Cloud, Cyber Security, Digital Industry, and Digital Transformation. NGP Capital backs entrepreneurs building a responsible and inclusive world where the confluence of sensors, mobility, software, and cloud solutions will connect people and industries in new ways, transforming how we live and work.