How leading investors thought about AI in 2023

Plus, layoffs and shutdowns hit hard December 18, 2023 Hi, {NAME}. Over the past year, we’ve chatted with more than a half-dozen active investors in AI about where they’re investing. Today, we [round up highlights from those interviews]( which include conversations with [General Catalyst]( [Insight Partners]( [Sequoia Capital]( and [Microsoft]( venture arm, [M12]( among others. Plus, nevermind the holiday season — it was [a brutal week in tech layoffs last week]( with numerous companies shutting down and handing pink slips to all of their staff. 🤖 [How leading investors thought about AI in 2023]( A year ago, the immediate and massive adoption by consumers of AI tools like [ChatGPT]( and [DALL-E]( represented a critical off-to-the-races moment for artificial intelligence — one that’s only furthered investor interest in putting tens of billions of dollars into the technology and tools driving what they see as a paradigm shift for humanity. But many of the investors we spoke with in a series of wide-ranging interviews this year have also been investing in AI since before the ChatGPT moment. Related Crunchbase Pro lists: • [Index Ventures AI Portfolio Companies]( • [Sequoia Capital AI Portfolio Companies]( • [Microsoft’s M12 AI Portfolio Companies]( 🪓 [Forget the holidays, layoffs accumulate amid shutdowns]( From [Zulily]( to [SmileDirectClub]( several companies said last week they are shutting down and laying off their entire staff. And [Cruise]( the autonomous driving startup, confirmed it’s laying off 24% of its workforce. 🏅 [Top 10 deals: Another big week for biotech]( Just a couple of weeks until the end of the year and companies are still raising big rounds. The week was especially good for biotech, which led the way with two large raises. A space and defense startup also hit it big. See also: [The Crunchbase Megadeals Board]( 📲 [Share of app startup funding hits lowest point in a decade]( In 2016, startups tied to the app economy received 14% of all venture funding, per Crunchbase data, with then-hot companies like [Uber]( and [Snap]( each pulling in billions of dollars that year alone. This year, app startup funding as a portion of overall venture capital has dwindled to just 2.5%. But will [Epic Games]( legal victory against [Google]( and its Play Store help to change that trajectory? Related Crunchbase Pro list: [Funding To US App Economy Companies]( [Crunchbase ROI Calculator]( [See the number of new accounts Crunchbase can add to your funnel with our advanced prospecting ROI calculator powered by Crunchbase data.]( [Calculate]( Recent Investments [Kapital]( [$125M]( / [Debt Financing]( Kapital uses data and artificial intelligence to provide SMEs with an account to see and manage their business cash flows in real-time. Categories: Financial Services • FinTech • Productivity Tools • Small and Medium Businesses • Wealth Management Founders: [Arjun Sethi]( [Eder Echeverria]( [Fernando Sandoval]( [René Saul]( [Synnovation Therapeutics]( [$70M]( / [Venture Round]( Synnovation Therapeutics is a precision oncology company that develops therapeutics that aims to help people with cancer. Categories: Biotechnology • Health Care • Life Science • Medical • Oncology Founders: [Wenqing Yao]( [ecoworks]( [40M EUR]( / [Series A]( Ecoworks specializes in climate-neutral renovations and modernizations for apartment buildings. Categories: Architecture • Construction • Industrial Engineering Founders: [Emanuel Heisenberg]( [Kristofer Fichtner]( Investors: [World Fund]( (Lead), [Haniel]( [ISAI Cap Venture]( [+ 1 more]( More Fundings Company Amount / Round Lead Investor [Relevance AI]( $15M / [Series A]( [King River Capital]( [Rubi Laboratories]( $5.1M / [Venture Round]( - [Datalogz]( $5.0M / [Series A]( [GreatPoint Ventures]( [All Recent Funding Activity]( Recent Acquisitions [Craft]( Pending acquisition by [Le Sueur Incorporated]( for Unknown More Acquisitions Company Acquired By Amount [Shipfix]( [Veson Nautical]( Unknown [All Recent Acquisition Activity]( Upcoming Tech Events [Tech Baller]( February 12 - 13, 2024 in New York Tech Baller is the premier gathering of sports, entertainment & Web 3 pros at the intersection of pop culture and new technology Accelerator Deadlines Date Accelerator Location Dec 31, 2023 [Soulmates Ventures]( Prague Dec 31, 2023 [Nex Cubed]( San Francisco [More Upcoming Deadlines]( Don’t see your event? Reach out to us at events@crunchbase.com. #{Rails.configuration.daily.cb_url} Discover innovative companies and the people behind them. [Follow Us on Crunchbase]( [View Jobs on LinkedIn]( [Follow Us on Twitter]( [Like Us on Facebook]( 564 Market St, San Francisco, CA 94104 © 2023 Crunchbase Inc. All rights reserved. [Privacy Policy]( | [Terms of Service]( [Unsubscribe]( from Crunchbase Daily.