It seems that every time a major generative AI company raises billions of dollars, one of the pillars of Big Tech like Nvidia, Microsoft Or Google is the leader of the round.
But an evaluation of Crunchbase data shows something surprising — corporate investment has actually been declining over the past two years.
For greater than two-thirds of the period through 2024, U.S. CVC affiliates and corporations participated in just 1,385 deals — about on pace with last yr but significantly lower than in 2022.
The data shows that not only the variety of deals has declined, but also the variety of rounds led or co-led by large CVCs or US-based corporations.
Offers down in all places
The data seems to contradict today’s headlines. After all, two of the largest rounds raised this yr were led by a large corporation: Alphabet$5 billion investment in autonomous vehicle company PendulumAND DisneyThe company’s investment of $1.5 billion Epic games.
While it is true that there have been some huge funding rounds backed solely by a corporate investor, the overall variety of deals has declined.
In addition to the total variety of rounds in which CVCs or corporates participated, the variety of rounds at different stages also decreased.
In early-stage deals — defined here as Series A and B — CVCs and corporates participated in just 489 deals, compared with greater than 700 last yr.
It’s a nearly an identical picture for CVCs and corporates participating in later rounds—Series C and beyond—with just 190 such deals accomplished by mid-September. Last yr, these groups participated in 270 such rounds.
Leaders
Even if the numbers are down, it’s value checking who’s leading the way in terms of corporate investment deals. And, not surprisingly, the numbers show that these are the individuals who are very interested in AI.
Google Projectsor GV — whose AI investments we’ve covered before — has participated in the most rounds this yr, participating in 46 and leading or co-leading a dozen, in response to Crunchbase data. The large rounds he led or co-led include those for biotech company Santa Ana Biographydata observability startup nurseryand AI legal technology company HarveyWhile it is likely that GV will match or exceed the 62 deals it participated in last yr, it is unlikely to succeed in the 102 deals it accomplished lower than two years ago.
Coinbase Ventures is next on the list with 30 deals made this yr — well below the 111 deals made in 2022. That’s to be expected, though, as cryptocurrency funding has fallen significantly since its 2021 and 2022 peaks. Samsung Next It concluded 27 deals — a result just like the 34 concluded last yr, but significantly lower than the 73 rounds it participated in in 2022.
Salesforce Projects 1 ranks fourth on the list and recently made headlines when it announced that it will double the amount of its AI commitments, which currently stands at $1 billion.
SaleThe enterprise team has participated in 26 deals this yr and led or co-led nine deals (tied third among CVC/corporates). It has participated in Coherea massive $500 million Series D raised at a $5.5 billion valuation in July. It also led a massive $106 million funding round for Menlo Park, Calif. Together — which built a cloud platform that permits developers to build open and custom AI models — with a valuation of $1.25 billion in March.
Rounding out the top five most lively CVCs or corporations in the US is Nvidia, one of the most lively investors in AI. It is the only corporate investor or CVC in the top five whose variety of deals this yr exceeds that of 2022. Nvidia has already invested in 21 rounds this yr, in comparison with just nine in 2022. Last yr, it participated in 30 deals.
The chip giant participated in each the previously mentioned Cohere and Together rounds, in addition to large rounds comparable to Mistral AI, AI scales AND Cohesion.
What’s going on?
While it is actually true that CVCs and U.S. corporations have made big, billion-dollar deals in sectors like gaming, autonomous vehicles, and — after all — artificial intelligence, they don’t appear to be making more deals overall.
We’ve written before that the majority of investment in US startups comes from rounds backed solely by a corporate investor. That doesn’t mean these entities are involved in more deals (nor does it necessarily mean they’re investing more capital, given the deals they’re involved in with other investors).
It looks like big tech firms and their investment arms are beginning to grab our attention.
Methodology
Numbers are based on data taken on September 13, 2024.
The numbers are based on investors from CVC or those without an investor type, meaning they are firms, not investors. If an investor lacks an investor type, it is going to be included here and may misrepresent the data.