13 Generative AI Companies Reached Unicorn Status

Source : CBInsights

So far, 13 generative AI companies have reached a $1B+ valuation. The vast majority of these passed the unicorn threshold within the last year or so as generative AI took off with mainstream users.

OpenAI, on the other hand, became a unicorn in 2019 and has seen its valuation grow 10x since then. It leads the pack with a $29B valuation. It’s followed by Anthropic ($4.4B valuation), Cohere ($2B), and Hugging Face ($2B).

Funding to US-based AI companies totaled $3.7B in Q1’23, a QoQ decline of 27%. Deals fell for the fourth straight quarter, reaching just 232. However, Silicon Valley experienced a rebound in Q1’23, with funding up 41% and deals increasing by 20%. This funding surge was driven by mega-rounds worth $1.2B in aggregate going to a handful of generative AI companies based in the region.

Meanwhile, funding to Asia-based companies collapsed to its lowest level since Q4’16 — driven by unusually subdued AI investment activity in China. Europe AI funding also dipped but remains above the pre-pandemic average.

Europe accounted for the largest share of global AI exits at 38%. US-based companies represented 33% of exits, and Asia’s share was 17%