Microsoft’s substantial purchase of health tech AI company Nuance led the innovation news cycle this week. The $19.7 billion deal is Microsoft’s second-largest to date, only beaten by its purchase of LinkedIn some years back.
For the AI area, the sale is a coup. Subtlety was currently a public business, but to see Microsoft use a firm premium over its public-market worth shows the worth that AI technology can have to wealthy companies. For start-ups operating in the AI space, the Subtlety offer is good news; the value of AI income was repriced by the acquisition’s statement — — and for the better.
In light of the megadeal, The Exchange dug into the AI equity capital market. What’s taking place on the start-up side of the coin in the artificial intelligence and artificial intelligence (AI/ML) area?
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To get a handle on the scenario, we’ve put together Q1 2021 and historical venture capital financial investment information via PitchBook, spoken to an active investor with a concentrate on AI-powered startups, and spoken with a couple of start-ups recently included on CB Insights’ list of leading AI upstarts for their take on the current news.
The image that emerges is among strong financier interest and the expectation of much more in the wake of the Microsoft-Nuance tie-up. For AI start-ups, it’s a fun time to be in the market.
Today, we’ll start with a check out recent venture capital activity in the AI/ML market and its historic context. Then we’ll speak with Zetta Ventures’ Jocelyn Goldfein and a couple of companies in the AI space. Let’s go!
A venture capital rush
According to historical information put together by PitchBook, venture capital financial investment into U.S.-based, AI-focused startups is delighting in a strong start to the year. Per the group’s offered dataset, from the start of 2021 through April 12, or the first 101 days of the year, 442 deals in the space deserved $11.65 billion.
In 2020, the exact same question for U.S.-based startups operating in the AI and ML area — — the line between ML and AI is blurrier than ever — — showed up 1,601 rounds worth $27.49 billion.
Article curated by RJ Shara from Source. RJ Shara is a Bay Area Radio Host (Radio Jockey) who talks about the startup ecosystem – entrepreneurs, investments, policies and more on her show The Silicon Dreams. The show streams on Radio Zindagi 1170AM on Mondays from 3.30 PM to 4 PM.
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