AI valuation rises significantly again

This column looks back on my week with AI. Please read the previous article here.

Let's take a look at the evaluation of the AI startup field again.

After only one $1 billion round and some big valuation gains in the first quarter, this month has certainly brought both back to the forefront, with investors still making deals regardless of cost. indicated that they were willing to comply.

Just a few weeks ago, AI cloud infrastructure startup CoreWeave closed on a $1.1 billion funding led by Coatue, valuing the company at $19 billion, according to the Wall Street Journal.

This new value nearly triples the company's valuation just five months ago, when it was valued at $7 billion following a secondary sale, and $2 billion in a Series B extension last May. The amount has increased almost 10 times.

And last week, it was reported that Paris-based Mistral AI (a competitor to OpenAI and Anthropic) was closing in on a round of about $600 million from existing investors General Catalyst and Lightspeed Venture Partners, valuing it at $6 billion. It was done.

That's three times the value of Mistral, which raised about $415 million at a $2 billion valuation last December, Bloomberg reported.

Finally, Elon Musk's generative AI startup xAI is nearing a $6 billion funding round from Sequoia Capital and others valued at $18 billion pre-money, including from Bloomberg here Within a few weeks, the news was flying. .

Musk's startup, which is just 10 months old, was originally seeking around $3 billion at a pre-money valuation of $15 billion, but that amount was reportedly increased due to strong investor interest.

This is not a commentary on the quality of these companies, but when you see a startup's valuation increase 10x in a year, or triple in about 5 months, you immediately pick up your calendar and wonder if this is true. Some people may want to check it out. 2020 or 2021.

It also begs the question of whether we have really learned from all the mistakes investors made back then.

What caught our eye and more:

It may not be pure AI, but Sam Altman made another interesting investment this week. The OpenAI co-founder is also an active investor in other companies, having backed robotic car network startup Glydways through his Apollo project. Joining Altman in this round was Japanese automaker giant Suzuki Motors. The South San Francisco-based self-driving vehicle and infrastructure developer has raised a total of $76 million. The round values Glideways at between $350 million and $400 million, according to Bloomberg.
In healthcare, the share of AI startups continues to attract attention. This week, New York-based SmarterDx raised $50 million in Series B funding led by Transformation Capital. The startup uses AI to understand a patient's clinical history and help hospitals process claims faster and correctly. According to the company, SmarterDx was founded in 2020 and has raised $71 million to date.