- Foundry Technologies is in talks to raise money at a valuation of $350 million, a significant increase from its previous valuation of $50 million.
- The increase in valuation highlights the trend of hot companies in the AI sector raising money at rapidly escalating valuations.
- Foundry is one of many AI startups that have experienced a meteoric rise in valuation this year.
- The company plans to rent servers to companies for running AI software.
- The risky pandemic-era fundraising trend of rapidly increasing valuations in short periods of time has returned.
Hong Kong's stock market has benefited from China's rapid growth, with over 1,400 Chinese companies raising $1.05 trillion in the past 30 years.
Main Topic: AI startup Hugging Face seeking to raise millions from Salesforce and other investors
Key Points:
1. Hugging Face aims to raise $200 million in venture capital, with Salesforce leading the round.
2. Hugging Face operates a platform similar to GitHub for hosting AI models, with over 100,000 open-source models available.
3. The proposed investment would value Hugging Face at $4 billion, positioning it as a key player in the development of open-source AI technologies.
Main topic: AI startup Hugging Face raising $200 million funding round at a $4 billion valuation.
Key points:
1. Hugging Face is raising approximately $200 million in funding.
2. The funding round is led by Salesforce Ventures at a valuation of $4 billion.
3. Hugging Face allows companies to store and use AI software and hosts open-source AI models for developers.
Main topic: Vietnam internet company VNG Corp's plan to raise $150 million through a U.S. stock market listing.
Key points:
1. VNG Corp aims to raise $150 million through a U.S. stock market listing.
2. The company is targeting a trading debut at the end of September or October.
3. VNG Corp's IPO proceeds will be used for general corporate purposes, repayment of outstanding borrowings, and donations.
Hugging Face, an AI startup, has raised $235 million in a Series D funding round, with participation from tech giants such as Google, Amazon, Nvidia, and IBM, and now has a valuation of $4.5 billion, signaling the growing demand for AI platforms and tools.
Main topic: AI startup Modular raises $100 million in funding round.
Key points:
1. Modular has raised $100 million in a funding round led by General Catalyst, with participation from Google Ventures, SV Angel, Greylock, and Factory.
2. The company did not disclose the valuation at which it raised capital, but a report by The Information put it at $600 million.
3. Modular aims to provide a more affordable alternative to AI development for enterprises through its software, bypassing the need for expensive chips from tech companies like Nvidia.
Main topic: AI startup Hugging Face raises $235 million in Series D funding round.
Key points:
1. Hugging Face's latest funding round brings its total capital raised to $395.2 million, valuing the firm at $4.5 billion.
2. Hugging Face provides data science tools and a model hub with over a million repositories.
3. The startup aims to be the open platform empowering the paradigm shift towards AI.
Main Topic: Largest startup funding deals in 2023
Key Points:
1. Axiom Space raised $350 million for its commercial space station project.
2. Ramp raised $300 million in a down round for its corporate card and expense automation platform.
3. Cellares raised $255 million for its cell therapy manufacturing smart factory.
Note: There are more points in the content, but these are the key points provided.
Five crypto and blockchain-based companies raised a total of $24 million this week, with notable fundraises including $13 million for bitcoin mining company Nodal Power and $5 million for crypto lender Maple Finance.
China's biggest homebuilder, Country Garden, plans to raise $34 million by issuing new shares in a bid to alleviate its $190 billion debt burden and address the country's expanding real estate crisis.
AI has garnered immense investment from venture capitalists, with over $40 billion poured into AI startups in the first half of 2023, raising concerns about who will benefit financially from its potential impact.
San Francisco-based AI startup Writer has raised $100 million in a funding round led by Iconiq Growth, bringing its valuation to $500 million, and aims to help businesses use large language models to generate content across different departments.
China Reform Holdings Corp, a Chinese state asset manager, plans to raise a minimum of 100 billion yuan ($13.7 billion) for a fund that will invest in emerging industries, with investment commitments already received from government-owned enterprises and private investors.
AI startup Anthropic is reportedly in talks with investors, including Google, to raise an additional $2 billion in funding at a valuation between $20 billion and $30 billion, just weeks after securing a $4 billion investment from Amazon. Meanwhile, rival OpenAI is said to be considering selling shares at a staggering $90 billion valuation, a significant surge from its valuation of $29 billion just a few months ago. Other AI startups, such as Character.AI and Prins AI, are also seeking significant valuation jumps in their funding rounds.
Global venture funding in Q3 2023 reached $73 billion, marking a slight increase from the previous quarter but a 15% decline compared to the same period in 2022, with seed and early-stage funding continuing to decline while late-stage funding increased, particularly in strategic sectors such as semiconductors, AI, electric vehicles, and sustainability. The IPO markets also showed signs of easing, with two venture-backed startups going public in September for the first time in 18 months. Additionally, AI companies raised over $10 billion in Q3, and late-stage funding saw growth outside of North America, particularly in Asia and Europe. However, the global funding slowdown persisted, with a 42% decline year over year in the first three quarters of 2023.
Chinese AI startups Baichuan has raised $300 million in financing from Alibaba, Tencent, Xiaomi, and other investors to compete with giants like Microsoft and OpenAI in developing generative AI models.
Chinese AI startup Baichuan has raised $300 million in funding, with investors including Alibaba and Tencent, as the country's AI industry seeks to rival OpenAI's ChatGPT.
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