AI Deals in Europe 2024

In this article, I will shed light on AI deals in Europe in 2024 , providing insights based on recent reports, ventures remain rather difficult to secure funding for, with Q2 just edging out the previous two quarters' numbers in most recent data for AI Deals in Europe 2024. On the other hand, there is one sector that continues unabated in terms of drawing interest and investment: AI.

In the U.S. certainly the standout has been Artificial Intelligence, at nearly 30 deals over $100 million so far in 2024 and the current global leader, while not too far behind is Europe, as indicated by research which states that by August 14 AI investments of $100 million or more had been recorded for Europe, with one company securing two such investments.

AI, at present, is powering the European startup ecosystem significantly. Over 1,700 financing rounds for AI new companies have been seen in the locale as of now this year, concurring to PitchBook information.

The largest AI startups, especially the ones working on foundational models, attract most of the funding because AI is just plain expensive to move forward with. Sources estimate that Mistral AI has raised over $1 billion just in this past year and that it might be positioned for another round of fund-raising.

Mistral is based in Paris, which has firmly positioned itself as a hub for AI development in Europe, particularly generative AI. Whereas developing markets like India are getting as it were a division of the financing for AI that more created markets secure, it will be curiously to see whether Paris can hold its leadership or whether this balance in power and investment may shift.

AI commands large and growing investments, presumably for many more reasons than the ones mentioned below:

1. 1. A ton of compute needed to train and run AI models.
2. Fierce competition amongst AI startups who want to hire talent.
3. Royalties that AI firms might have to pay on the content IP used for training models.
4. Urgency on the part of investors sporting fat growth funds to find profitable opportunities, with AI at the very top.

Here's the look at some of the largest AI funding rounds in Europe this year: 

Wayve: $1 billion

The Cambridge, England-based startup was founded in 2017 and it closed a $1.05 billion round in May to advance its autonomous driving technology — becoming the biggest single round for an AI company in Europe this year. Wayve sells its AI tech to carmakers and OEMs rather than making vehicles — a strategy that could be executed on a broader business funnel and more operational focus.

Mistral: $431 million and $650 million

Mistral is becoming another core builder of large language models, which are at the basis of most generative AI applications. An open-source company that has raised more than $1 billion together this year on two major rounds of $431 million and $650 million, making it the most well-financed AI startup in Europe.

Helsing: $484 million

Helsing, a Germany-based company, brings AI to defense systems and battle analytics. Last month, the company opened with a $487 million valuation, placing it as a central player in Europe's defense tech space.

Poolside: $400 million

Paris-based Poolside is developing AI tools for developers to help speed up software development. It raised $400 million, among them BCV and DST.

DeepL: $320 million

Germany-based DeepL provided AI-based text translation and writing tools, pocketing $320 million in May, going after the B2B/ enterprise market. Now it has about 100,000 business customers.

H: $220 million

Known earlier as Holistic AI but rebranded as H, the startup managed to raise $220 million in seed funding in May. H is building generically applicable AI agents to automate tasks and facilitate complex decision-making.

Flo Health: $200 million

London-based Flo Health, a popular women's health app, has raised $200 million earlier this year, being the first purely digital women's health app to cross a valuation of over $1 billion.

Pigment: $145 million

The Paris-based enterprise resource planning software developer for finance teams has raised $145 million earlier this year that saw the valuation of the startup heft to over $780 million.