Investment in AI start-ups hit record high of US$59b in 2021 — data

Investment in AI start-ups hit record high of US$59b in 2021 — data

12 Apr 2022

Investment in artificial intelligence start-ups hit a record high of US$59 billion (about RM249.84 billion) in 2021, up from US$28 billion in 2020.

In a report on Monday (April 11), Crunchbase — which tracks trends, investments and news of global companies from start-ups to the Fortune 1000 — said venture investment in AI start-ups will only continue to rise in the next five years.

It said that is because AI has finally reached a tipping point where it is powerful and affordable enough to make a real economic impact on diverse industries.

Crunchbase said AI is a broad category, but generally encompasses all “intelligent” software that can learn from itself in some capacity.

It said this can include machine-learning platforms and the software used by robots, and self-driving vehicles to interpret the environments around them.

It said that for decades, AI had been developed and used by computer scientists to train all kinds of autonomous systems.

But it said what had changed today is that AI is no longer stuck in the lab as it is the backbone of fast-growing start-ups with the potential to become multibillion-dollar businesses.

Crunchbase said companies in industries as diverse as finance, retail, healthcare, food production, manufacturing, logistics and transportation are deploying AI to improve everyday business processes, automate their workflows and, sometimes, to introduce autonomous robots.

Source: The Edge Markets