2024 has turned out to be a game-changing year for AI startups, marking a shift in how investments are flowing into the sector. In the first quarter alone, AI startups raised $12.2 billion across 1,166 deals—up 4% from the previous quarter. This isn’t just a continuation of past trends; it’s a seismic transformation in the AI landscape.
October 2024 was a standout month, witnessing corporate-backed funding rounds soar to a staggering $22.33 billion—a 134% increase compared to October 2023. This unprecedented spike was driven by multi-billion-dollar rounds for industry giants like OpenAI and Waymo, signaling the rise of “mega-deals” that are reshaping the industry.
But it’s not just the big players reaping the rewards. The AI market, currently valued at $279 billion, is projected to skyrocket to $1.81 trillion by 2030, with a blistering annual growth rate of 37.3%. This explosion in funding is propelling not only massive technological advances but also the birth of entirely new industries, from advanced robotics to environmental engineering.
As we explore last week’s AI funding, we see a clear split in the market: on one side, investors are backing emerging AI giants poised to transform entire industries, while on the other, they’re focusing on specialized AI applications designed to solve high-impact challenges. This dual trend highlights the maturing AI ecosystem, where both broad-scale innovations and niche solutions are gaining momentum.

Key Highlights
- The recent massive funding rounds for Perplexity ($500 million) and Physical Intelligence ($400 million) signal a shift towards “full-stack” AI companies that are developing end-to-end solutions, from foundational models to user-facing applications. Investors are betting on vertically integrated AI firms that can control the entire value chain, potentially leading to more consolidated market power in the AI industry.
- Funding for companies like Precision Neuroscience and Ulysses Ecosystem Engineering suggests the emergence of entirely new “AI-native” industries. These startups aren’t just applying AI to existing sectors, but are creating novel categories that couldn’t exist without AI.
- Companies receiving large funding rounds are increasingly taking a “full-stack” approach to AI, developing everything from the underlying models to the end-user applications. This strategy could reshape the AI value chain, potentially squeezing out specialized providers and leading to a more consolidated AI industry landscape.
- With substantial funding going to companies developing universal robotic “brains” and AI-powered search engines, we might see a new category of AI products that serve as intermediaries between general-purpose AI models and specific industry applications.
Perplexity – $500 Million
Founder: Aravind Srinivas, Andy Konwinski, Denis Yarats and Johnny Ho
Perplexity, an AI-powered search engine, is reportedly set to raise $500 million in its fourth funding round this year, reaching a valuation close to $9 billion. The search platform, known for its ChatGPT-style interface and AI-driven search capabilities, has rapidly scaled with over 100 million weekly queries and $50 million in annual revenue. High-profile investors like Nvidia, Jeff Bezos, and Databricks continue to support Perplexity as it positions itself among other AI giants like OpenAI and Google, with the aim of offering highly accurate and detailed search responses.
Physical Intelligence – $400 Million
Founder: Karol Hausman
Physical Intelligence, based in San Francisco, leads the week with a colossal $400 million funding round at a $2 billion valuation. The startup, backed by Jeff Bezos, Lux Capital, and Thrive Capital, is pioneering the development of “brains” for robots, creating versatile foundational software that enables AI-enhanced operation across diverse robotic models. The goal is to simplify robotics software development by establishing a unified system rather than creating separate software for each robot. This funding, following an earlier $70 million seed round in March, marks a major bet on the future of robotics and its integration with AI.
Precision Neuroscience – $93 Million
Founders: Michael Mager and Benjamin Rapoport
New York’s Precision Neuroscience, a developer of brain-computer interfaces, raised $93 million in a Series C round, bringing its total funding to $146 million. Founded in 2021, the company focuses on advancing neuroscience through innovative interface technology, aiming to bridge connections between the human brain and digital systems. Investors for this round were not disclosed, but Precision Neuroscience’s continued growth highlights significant traction in the neurotech space.
Embed Security – $6 Million
Founders: Seth Summersett, Jeffrey Johns
Embed Security, a cybersecurity company specializing in AI-driven threat analysis, secured $6 million in early-stage funding from Paladin Capital Group and other angel investors. Founded in 2024 by Seth Summersett and Jeffrey Johns, the company aims to alleviate the burden of cybersecurity alert fatigue by leveraging advanced AI algorithms to sift through overwhelming threat alerts, allowing security teams to focus on real threats.
Troveo – $4.5M
Founder: Marty Pesis
Troveo has raised $4.5 million in seed funding to offer content owners, such as creators and filmmakers, a platform for licensing their work to AI companies while retaining ownership rights. With AI models increasingly dependent on quality data, Troveo addresses a key concern: fair compensation for original content creators. The company is backed by Seven Seven Six and angel investors, including notable figures like Alexis Ohanian and Mark Pincus. Troveo is building a platform that will allow creators to monetize their work, ensuring they are fairly compensated for its use in AI training.
Acai Travel – $4M
Founders: Riccardo Vittoria, Henry Chen Weinstein
Acai Travel, a Spanish tech startup revolutionizing the travel industry with AI-driven operations, has secured $4 million in seed funding. The company aims to help travel agencies modernize outdated systems and tackle post-pandemic challenges, such as inefficiencies and staffing shortages. With its AI-powered platform, Acai Travel promises to streamline workflows, enhance customer service, and scale travel businesses sustainably. The founders, with experience at companies like Boeing and Lufthansa, bring a deep understanding of both the travel tech and AI industries.
Advex AI – $3.5M
Founders: Pedro Pachuca, Qasim Wani
Advex AI has raised $3.5 million to advance its work in creating synthetic data for machine vision systems. The San Francisco-based company uses a proprietary diffusion model to generate synthetic images that mimic real-world patterns, helping manufacturers train AI models with less physical data. Advex’s synthetic data solutions have attracted major enterprise clients during its stealth phase, demonstrating strong traction in a competitive market. With the new funding, the company plans to scale its operations and expand its customer base.
Corgea – $2.6M
Founder: Ahmad Sadeddin
Corgea, a cybersecurity startup specializing in AI-powered vulnerability remediation, has raised $2.6 million in seed funding. The company’s platform leverages AI to detect, triage, and remediate software vulnerabilities, particularly those that traditional tools often miss, such as complex business logic bugs. With this funding, Corgea plans to scale its platform, which has already demonstrated significant improvements in remediation speed and accuracy. The company’s ability to reduce false positives and automate fixes in code workflows is poised to transform the cybersecurity landscape.
Ulysses Ecosystem Engineering – $2M
Founder: Akhil Voorakkara, Colm O’Brien, Jamie Wedderburn, and Mr. O’Brien
Ulysses Ecosystem Engineering, a startup focused on restoring seagrass ecosystems, has raised $2 million in pre-seed funding. The company uses an autonomous robot designed to plant seagrass seeds efficiently, accelerating restoration efforts by 100x compared to manual methods. Ulysses’ solution addresses the urgent need to reverse the decline of seagrass, which plays a vital role in marine ecosystems and carbon capture. This innovative approach to environmental restoration has attracted investment from Lowercarbon Capital and other VCs focused on sustainability.