Artificial intelligence tech has been booming in recent months, and many new developments in the space have come from the nation’s tech capital, Silicon Valley. An array of digital solutions raised fresh capital for the AI sector and beyond in March. The five largest funding rounds in the Bay Area totaled $7.8 billion last month. Check out where the copious venture dollars are headed.
Largest San Francisco Funding Rounds, March 2023
- Stripe
- Rippling
- Adept AI
- Anthropic
- Character.ai
#5. $150 million, March 23
Character.ai provides users with a platform that allows them to create and chat with AI-powered bots that each have unique personalities and values. The bots rolled out on Character.ai’s initial AI system, C1.1, are best suited for entertainment purposes while bots using its newer model called C1.2 are meant to be companions. The company’s funding from a16z will help Character.ai develop more advanced AI models.
#4. $300 million, March 9
AI company Anthropic is working to create a competitor to OpenAI’s chatbot ChatGPT. Anthropic’s bot Claude is currently active in a closed beta, and the company has received $300 million from Spark Capital and others to further its tech. Ahead of the investment, the company was valued at $4.1 billion.
#3. $350 million, March 14
Adept is developing a digital solution that uses AI to help engineers build software. The company said its AI tool will be able to transform text commands into actions and help users execute complex workflows. General Catalyst and Spark Capital invested in Adept’s $350 million round that will go toward productizing its solution and further training its AI model.
#2. $500 million, March 17
Following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank early last month, HR tech company Rippling pulled in a large funding round from Greenoaks with the intention of helping its customers distribute paychecks to their employees. Eventually, the situation remedied itself without the need to distribute these funds, and Rippling later shifted its banking operations to JPMorgan Chase. The round came at an $11.25 billion valuation for Rippling.
#1. $6.5 billion, March 15
Payments company Stripe achieved a $50 billion valuation following its latest funding round. The tech giant secured $6.5 billion to help its employees cover tax obligations related to the company’s pending expiration of its restricted stock units. Investors including GIC, Goldman Sachs and Temasek contributed to the round.
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