Corporate leaders are already bracing for an economic downturn as 2023 takes shape. Amid recession fears and inflation creating uncertainty in the stock market, the only unknown is whether the downturn will be mild or severe. As a result, many Venture Capitalists are not investing in startups. In the past year, the rate of investment in the Artificial Intelligence technology space has dropped by 33%. Despite this, things are looking up, and AI is making significant progress. While the rate of investment has dropped across the board in all industries, interest in AI has shown no sign of slowing down and startups are continuing to thrive with successful funding rounds.
Some startups are also unaffected by recent economic trends and have surpassed expectations with their funding rounds. Here are the top 8 AI startups to watch out for in 2023:
1. Open.ai
Chat GPT, made by Open.ai, has clearly been the most talked about AI project since its launch in November 2022 followed closely by DALL-E, their other AI project. Microsoft confirmed a “multiyear, multibillion-dollar investment” in OpenAI, while Semafor reported the investment value at $10 billion. Microsoft’s investment would be part of a complicated deal in which the company would receive 75% of OpenAI’s profits until its investment was repaid.
2. Anthropic
Founded in 2021, Anthropic is a startup that researches and develops reliable and controllable artificial intelligence systems, one of today’s most trending areas of technology. Google LLC invested $300 million in the ChatGPT rival for a 10% stake. The company’s primary focus is on AI safety, with the goal of creating more predictable, dependable, and steerable AI systems. The collaborative team hopes to eliminate bias in the AI model and overcome some of conversational AI’s current limitations.
3. Dataiku
New York based Dataiku, a developer of AI/ML platforms for enterprises closed a $200 million Series F funding round led by Wellington Management at a $3.7 billion valuation. Dataiku enables teams to create and deliver data and advanced analytics at scale using cutting-edge techniques. Dataiku now has over 500 customers, including more than 150 of the world’s largest corporations. They are utilizing the platform for use cases such as predictive maintenance, supply chain optimization, engineering quality control, and marketing optimization.
4. Tredence
Tredence is a global provider of data science solutions focused on solving the last-mile problem in AI. The ‘last mile’ is the distance between insight and value realization. The company assists clients in winning and maximizing the value of their analytics investments. The California-based startup raised $175M in Series B funding. The funds will assist Tredence in accelerating data-driven growth and the realization of AI value for industries.
5. Asimov
Asimov, a US-based startup that creates tools to design living systems, has secured $200 million in new funding. The Series B round was preceded by a $25 million Series A, which was also headed by Horizons Ventures. Asimov intends to use the funds to expand its biologics, advanced cell/gene therapies, and RNA tools and services business. It will also enable Asimov to concentrate on expanding its R&D to tackle new modalities and growing its 70-person workforce.
6. Metagenomi
Metagenomi is positioned at the heart of where AI meets biotechnology. It is a gene editing startup dedicated to creating potentially curative treatments. It does this by using a collection of advanced gene editing tools to precisely change DNA in situations where current methods fall short. Metagenomi completed a $275 million oversubscribed Series B financing. With this new funding, they will be able to push their key treatment projects from preclinical to clinical proof-of-concept.
7. Moore Threads
On December 27, Moore Threads, a Beijing-based GPU business, declared that it had received a 1.5 billion yuan ($215.5 million) B Round of financing. Moore Threads is a China-based designer of Artificial Intelligence (AI) chips. GGV Capital, one of their early stage investors, stated, “The multi-functional GPU developed by Moore Threads, features capabilities in graphics and AI computing, can provide effective computing support for the transformation of the physical world and the digital world.”
8. Oxbotica
UK based software company Oxbotica, is working on “universal autonomy,” which is the capacity for all cars to function autonomously, securely, and sustainably in any environment. The 2014 startup raised a $140 million USD Series C funding round. It has plans to expand its Canadian footprint and expand the business across North America.
The Takeaway
While hiring freezes at Big Tech firms may be hurting certain AI investments, it is clear that there is still a strong appetite for AI technologies across the enterprise. According to a McKinsey survey, corporate AI adoption has more than doubled since 2017, with 63% of businesses expecting to increase their AI spending over the next three years.
The venture capital firm Sequoia stated in a September blog post that generative AI could generate “trillions of dollars of economic value.” That may sound overly optimistic, but there is evidence that AI has progressed from a research project to a serious revenue generator. As AI startups evolve out of their research and laboratory phase the excitement surrounding this space is only expected to grow. With projects like Chat GPT holding the world’s attention, the next generation of AI technologies is bound to find support and investment, even during turbulent economic times.