For some, AI fatigue is real — but clearly venture investors haven’t grown tired of the category.
AI deals continued to dominate venture funding during the third quarter. AI companies raised $18.9 billion in Q3, according to Crunchbase data. That figure represents 28% of all venture funding.
The third quarter also saw the close of the largest venture deal of all time: OpenAI raised a behemoth $6.6 billion round. OpenAI’s deal was one of six AI funding rounds over $1 billion in 2024.
Here are the U.S.-based AI companies that raised $100 million or more so far in 2024:
November
Physical Intelligence, a startup developing foundational software for robots, founded by notable names including Sergey Levine and Lachy Groom, raised a Series A round on November 4 that values the company at more than $2 billion. The $400 million round included Lux Capital, Sequoia and Jeff Bezos, among others. The company was founded in 2024.
October
Bret Taylor’s Sierra, which makes AI chatbots for enterprise customers, raised a $175 million round that values the company at nearly $4.5 billion. The round, which was announced on October 28, was led by Greenoaks with participation from Thrive Capital and Iconiq Capital.
Autonomous warehouse robotics startup Nimble Robotics enters unicorn territory with its latest raise. The San Francisco-based company raised a $106 million Series C round on October 23 that valued the company at $1.1 billion. The round was co-led by FedEx and Cedar Pine.
Lightmatter, a photonic computing startup, raised a sizable $400 million Series D round led by T. Rowe Price on October 16. The round values the Silicon Valley-based company at $4.4 billion. Lightmatter has raised more than $800 million in venture capital.
Columbus, Ohio-based autonomous welding robots startup Path Robotics raised a $100 million Series D round that was announced on October 14. The round was led by Matter Venture Partners and Drive Capital with participation from Tiger Global and Addition, among others.
EvenUp, an AI-powered legaltech company, raised a $135 million Series D round led by Bain Capital Ventures with participation from SignalFire and Lightspeed, among others. The October 8 round valued the startup at $1 billion.
Berkeley-based KoBold Metals raised $491.5 million in a recent venture round. The investors aren’t disclosed, but in the past, the company raised from VCs including Bond and Andreessen Horowitz.
AI-powered software deve …