What those really big seed rounds tell us

Plus, $102M for an AI chip startup February 21, 2024 Hi, {NAME}. Seed funding ain’t what it used to be. With Series A rounds [getting harder to come by]( seed-stage startups are finding that it can take much longer to get to that next round — and that [their seed round might be much larger than it used to be](. Plus, a startup that makes hardware for both generative AI and autonomous vehicle applications [gets $102 million in fresh funding](. 🌱 [What those really big seed rounds tell us]( Seed rounds of $5 million or more, once virtually unheard of, have become more common in recent years. Last year alone [Crunchbase]( identified more than 1,500 angel, seed or pre-seed financings that met or exceeded this level. Related Crunchbase Pro list: [Seed Rounds Of $5 Million Or More]( 🦄 [Meet January’s 11 new unicorns]( Eleven companies joined [The Crunchbase Unicorn Board]( in January — the first double-digit monthly count [in over a year]( — with more than half hailing from Asia. See also: [The Crunchbase Unicorn Board]( 🤖 [Generative AI chip startup gets $102M in fresh funding]( [Recogni]( raised $102 million in a Series C round co-led by [Celesta Capital]( and [GreatPoint Ventures](. The San Jose, California-based startup is developing its AI inference chip for both the generative AI and automotive industries. 🏅 [Lambda leads massive week for megadeals]( Ten U.S.-based startups each raised $100 million or more last week, an eerie throwback to 2021. Maybe startup investing is back, or maybe investors were just really excited about [this crop of companies]( which includes AI, biotech, music and advanced materials startups. See also: [The Crunchbase Megadeals Board]( 🥑 [What these food tech investors are hungry for in 2024]( [Samara Hernandez]( and [Grisel Hernandez]( of [Chingona Ventures]( say they’re eager for more innovation and efficiency and improved dining experiences as they look to invest in restaurant and food tech startups this year. 📈 [5 areas where seed investors are active]( From [construction tech]( to [AI health diagnostics]( to [spacetech]( our data shows seed-stage investors have been funding young startups across an array of fascinating industries. [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 [GlobalFoundries]( [$1.5B]( / [Grant]( GlobalFoundries is a full-service semiconductor foundry that manufactures integrated circuits in high volume. Categories: Electronics • Manufacturing • Semiconductor Investors: [U.S. Department of Commerce]( (Lead) [Pure EV]( [660M INR]( / [Venture Round]( Pure EV is a motor vehicle company that develops e-mobility and energy storage systems for the EV industry. Categories: Automotive • Battery • Electric Vehicle Founders: [Nishanth Dongari]( [Rohit Vadera]( Investors: [Bennett Coleman and Co Ltd]( (Lead), [Hindustan Media Venture]( (Lead), [Ushodaya Enterprises Private Limited]( [Recogni]( [Unknown]( / [Debt Financing]( Recogni offers vision-based perception processing for autonomous driving platforms with high compute, low latency, and low power usage. Categories: Artificial Intelligence (AI) • Autonomous Vehicles • Semiconductor • Software Founders: [Ashwini Choudhary]( [Eugene Feinberg]( [Gilles Backhus]( [R.K. Anand]( [Valerie Chan]( Investors: [HSBC Innovation Banking]( (Lead) More Fundings Company Amount / Round Lead Investor [Recogni]( $102M / [Series C]( [Celesta Capital]( [Beoble]( $7.0M / [Seed Round]( - [Antler]( Unknown / [Venture Round]( [KWAP]( [VVDN Technologies]( Unknown / [Venture Round]( [Applied Ventures]( [All Recent Funding Activity]( Recent Acquisitions [SadaPay]( Pending acquisition by [Papara]( for Unknown More Acquisitions Company Acquired By Amount [Bustanica]( [Emirates Flight Catering]( Unknown [All Recent Acquisition Activity]( Upcoming Tech Events [LEAP and DeepFest]( March 4 - 7, 2024 in Maham LEAP and DeepFest stand out as the world's most widely attended technology events. Accelerator Deadlines Date Accelerator Location Feb 25, 2024 [ICELab]( Gunnison Feb 28, 2024 [Motor Valley Accelerator]( Modena [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 © 2024 Crunchbase Inc. All rights reserved. [Privacy Policy]( | [Terms of Service]( [Unsubscribe]( from Crunchbase Daily.