A comprehensive study of +605 fundraisings rounds in 2017 for AI & data-driven startups
During the 15th century, Chinese civilization was probably the most advanced in the world. By
1433, the Chinese admiral Zheng He had already sailed from China to India, Indonesia, and
even Africa on caravels twice as large as those Christopher Columbus used 59 years later
for his fateful journey. China could have been the country to discover America. Instead, its
government surprisingly decided to put an end to its naval activities and burn its entire fleet
of ships, indirectly allowing Spain to conquer America and bring prosperity to Europe. It took
more than 5 centuries for China to recover from this political decision. What could make such
an advanced country deliberately turn away from its future? Officially, Chinese elites decided
to cease naval exploration for budgetary reasons. But in reality, they burned their fleet of 317
ships because of the new wealth and power bestowed upon a rising class of merchants,
seeing this change as a threat to their internal stability (and likely to their sovereignty).
The time for AI adoption has come. For European policymakers, it’s more a matter of how the
EU will use AI as a competitive edge and lever for society than pouring money into its
development. With populism and isolationism in full swing, the AI revolution must be
legitimized and guided by our institutions, so it can be accepted by the population and keep
us from falling into technological obscurantism.
The faster and the smoother the EU adopts AI, the more advanced it will be compared to
other nations.
2 (*)Source : CB Insights
-----
For the third consecutive year, Serena has published its annual report on AI and data-
driven fundraising rounds. This study provides an overview of “deep tech” startups in
Europe.
-----
4
GIMME! GIMME! GIMME! MORE… DATA
2 255
774
TOTAL 583 611
FUNDRAISING $M
2014 2015 2016 2017
585
271
# NUMBER OF
ROUNDS 71 83
585
rounds 2 255
NUMBER OF DEALS
271
rounds 774
71
rounds
583
83
rounds 611
www.serenaca.vc | @serenavc 12 *Based on Linkedin data as of September 2018 THE AI RUSH - 2018
EACH BULLET POINT REPRESENTS A JOB CREATED BY A DEEP TECH VENTURES…
NUMBER OF JOBS IN FUNDED AI & DATA-DRIVEN STARTUPS SINCE 2014
www.serenaca.vc | @serenavc 13 *Based on Linkedin data as of September 2018 THE AI RUSH - 2018
JOB CREATION RATIO
NUMBER OF JOBS CREATED PER $100K INVESTMENT
0,8 jobs
0,53 jobs
were created.
www.serenaca.vc | @serenavc 14 *Based on Linkedin data as of september 2018 THE AI RUSH - 2018
HMM, YOU MIGHT SAY LONDON IS (A BIT) AHEAD OF PARIS and THE RoE
NUMBER OF JOBS IN FUNDED AI & DATA-DRIVEN STARTUPS SINCE 2014
632 Helsinki
Stockholm 833
922
798 Barcelona
Madrid
www.serenaca.vc | @serenavc 15 THE AI RUSH - 2018
THE AI RUSH
Digital
Layer
Physical
Layer
Storage Processing
CREDITS
Jean-Baptiste Dumont Eric Gossart Icon made by Freepik from www.flaticon.com
Icon made by Icon Pond from www.flaticon.com
@jbdumont @egossart Icon made by Dinosoftlab from www.flaticon.com
Partner Associate Icon made by Vectors Market from www.flaticon.com
Icon made by Smashicons from www.flaticon.com
Icon made by Prosymbols from www.flaticon.com
Léa Verdillon Sébastien Le Roy Icon made by Roundicons from www.flaticon.com
@lverdillon @SebastienLe_Roy Icon made by Smashicons from www.flaticon.com
Associate Associate Icon made by Pixel Buddha from www.flaticon.com