Total Investment
- $291.3Bn (USD) was invested across 10,230 deals. This represents a substantial amount of funding, demonstrating continued interest and trust in AI technologies.
Top AI Segment by Investment
- Generative AI: Dominates the list with over 1974 deals since 2019, signaling a significant focus on tools that improve operational efficiency, workflow automation, and business intelligence.
- AI-powered Drug Discovery: With 133 deals since 2019, this highlights the importance of AI in medical technologies and related technologies.
- AI in Foodtech: With 119 deals since 2019, this is a new category that emerged over the past 5 years.
- LLM Agents: These tools, aiding in AI/ML application development, garnered 93 deals.
- Digital Twins: A new category that emerged with great interest, garnered 78 deals.
Investment Trends Over Time
- The average deal size for Seed Stage in Q4 2024 increased by 2.5x to $5.1m from $2.0m in Q1 2020.
- The average deal size for Series A in Q4 2024 increased by 2.8x to $24.3m from $8.5m in Q1 2020.
- 2019–2021 Growth: Investments increased significantly, peaking in 2021 at $315 million. This growth aligns with the AI boom during the pandemic, as companies sought digital transformation and automation.
- 2022–2023 Decline: Funding dropped to $250 million in 2022 and $157 million in 2023, possibly due to market corrections, macroeconomic uncertainties, and rising interest rates impacting VC funding.
- 2024 Recovery: Investments rebounded sharply to $450 million, driven by a renewed focus on generative AI, large language models, and their applications across industries.
Key Observations
- Industry Dynamics: The dominance of software-related sectors (business, financial, and development tools) reflects the software-first nature of AI commercialization.
- Hardware Investment: Moderate funding in AI-specific semiconductors suggests that while critical, it is not the largest driver of current VC interest.
- Sector Diversity: The presence of industries like automotive underscores the versatility of AI and its penetration into traditional sectors.
| Total Investment in Seed, Series A/A+ (in $M) | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Generative AI | $1,043.70 | $2,082.30 | $2,797.80 | $4,371.60 | $4,262.70 |
| Autonomous Trucking | $3,265.20 | $98.40 | $256.80 | — | $20.00 |
| AI-powered Drug Discovery | $134.40 | $366.30 | $159.50 | $67.80 | $1,129.90 |
| AI neoclouds | $8.60 | $376.00 | $31.10 | $54.00 | $288.50 |
| Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) Research | $2.40 | $27.20 | $66.00 | — | $509.00 |
| LLM Agents | $26.70 | $67.00 | $51.30 | $117.50 | $276.20 |
| AI in Foodtech | $34.20 | $86.20 | $108.10 | $34.60 | $46.30 |
| Indoor Farming | $10.70 | $72.90 | $141.70 | $35.80 | $19.50 |
| AI-powered Code Completion | $13.60 | $51.20 | $37.90 | $19.50 | $118.10 |
| High Performance Computing | $0.10 | $98.90 | $30.10 | $104.00 | $3.60 |
| Quantum Computing | $21.40 | $61.80 | $50.10 | $69.50 | $33.50 |
| Digital Twins | $62.20 | $29.40 | $26.80 | $72.70 | $29.40 |
| Synthetic Data | $20.30 | $30.30 | $36.00 | $32.90 | $79.80 |
| Humanoid Robotics | $13.00 | $11.80 | $17.50 | $95.70 | $33.00 |
* Sources available in the Octagon app
