With their multi-faceted applications, AI tools have become essential in businesses across industries. From interactive chatbots in an eCommerce website to complex data prediction models in large-scale firms, the technology has taken over the market. Blazing past its value of USD150.2 billion in 2023, the global AI market is poised to reach $1345.2 billion by 2030 clocking a CAGR of 36.8 per cent.
Experts predict the technology to have a transformative impact on the global economy, reinventing how several industries operate. In this highly competitive yet growing market, investors look to assist the most promising players with the most exciting AI innovations.
AI is a high-growth market that receives consistent investor interest. These are four AI companies that received active investor interest in September 2023, given a combination of their impressive trajectory and high development potential. The new funds are expected to help the players strengthen their operations and fast-track the road to success.
Upstage AI provides AI development services, helping engineers verify their AI models and improve accuracy. It’s been called the “hidden tech power" in open large language models (LLM). The company ranks highest in optimising generative AI performance, beating GPT-3.5.
In a recent seed round, Upstage raised ₩10 billion from South Korea’s KT Corp. Overall, the start-up has successfully secured a total funding of $27.3 million over 2 rounds, both occurring in September 2023.
With this partnership, the companies plan to develop an LLM solution tailored for enterprise, and one specifically for the B2B domain.
Aisles is an AI-based retail technology firm that focuses on optimising retail operations and enriching the customer’s shopping experience. It holds a number of smart retail solution brands under its umbrella including TRUSTIS, TECH WHEEL, SAFTIES, and SAVES. The company secured $4 million in angel funding, pushing it up to #82 spot on Crunchbase’s start-up list.
Funds from the round will not only help the company improve its existing brands but also work on new retail solutions.
Aisles co-founder Ignacio Rosales commented on his plans with the new funding amount, stating: “We are already working on our next big product called HELPS. All I can say right now without giving away too much is that it really HELPS and will work in synergy with our other products to improve the consumer shopping experience and make it more efficient, personalized, and interactive".
A rival to ChatGPT, Anthropic is a high-profile generative AI start-up founded by ex-OpenAI executives. It offers a next-gen AI assistant, Claude, that responds to and solves complex user queries.
In September, Amazon agreed to invest $4 billion in the company, with an immediate investment of $1.25 billion, and an option to trigger the rest later. As per the deal, Anthropic will now use AWS cloud data centres, AWS Trainium and Inferentia chips to build, train and deploy its models.
In a statement, Anthropic mentioned: “Amazon’s investment and supply of AWS technology will ensure we’re equipped to continue advancing the frontier of AI safety and research. We look forward to working closely with Amazon to responsibly scale adoption of Claude and deliver safe AI cloud technologies to organisations around the world”.
QANDA is an AI-powered learning and education platform developed by Mathpresso – a Korean edtech company. Founded in 2015, Mathpresso launched QANDA as a 1:1 tutor service, which has now evolved into a comprehensive educational platform with 10 million monthly students. With advanced AI tech, it allows users to upload a photo of a math or science problem and get back the solution.
Mathpresso has secured additional funding worth $8 million from KT Corporation, with a deal to develop a large learning model (LLM) for enhancing the education experience. The company intends to use its own AI abilities along with KT’s infrastructure to build a reliable LLM model.
Jake Lee, CEO of Mathpresso stated: "This partnership marks a significant step towards building a world-class AI tutor beyond Asia. It will open doors to unparalleled educational opportunities for countless students". Mathpresso has also expressed interest in the US market, planning to expand its operations into the country by the end of 2023.
The global AI market is in a rapid development phase, with numerous start-ups emerging and introducing revolutionary solutions every month. Experts predict that technology will reinvent how businesses operate and interact with their customers.