Like it or hate it, artificial intelligence — especially generative AI — is the technology story of 2024. OpenAI, with its rollouts of viral services like ChatGPT and billions in funding, may have gobbled up the lion’s share of attention and money so far. But according to a new report out from top VC Accel and the analysts at Dealroom, in Europe and Israel there is a wave of hopefuls emerging to make their mark. Together, Europe and Israel typically make up some 45% of all venture funding annually, yet when you translate that to the specific sphere of AI, the proportion drops to less than half of that — and generative AI even less. You can take that as a signal that Europe and Israel are lagging in the market. Or more optimistically, it means that we will see a number of interesting developments in the months and years ahead as the region catches up. Investors are now on the hunt for the next big thing, potentially at prices that are less inflated than in the U.S. Interestingly, Accel partner Harry Nelis tells me that one of the reasons this report materialized is because of his firm’s efforts to evaluate all the generative AI startups emerging across the region. Of the 221 startups Dealroom and Accel analyzed, some 27%, nearly one-third of the group, were created in London. Tel Aviv took the number-two slot at 13%; Berlin 12%; and Amsterdam 5%. Interestingly, although Paris is the city everyone has been talking about for a while as a hotbed for AI development, it found itself very much in the middle of the city rankings, at 10%.
Full report by Accel and Dealroom : Out of 221 generative AI startups in Europe and Israel, 27% were created in London, 13% in Tel Aviv, 12% in Berlin, and 10% in Paris.
