UK AI Startups That Have Raised The Most Funding in 2024 

Synthetic intelligence (AI) is without doubt one of the fast-growing fields for brand new enterprise. Much more excitingly, the UK has change into the premier location for modern AI startups.

New information from HSBC Innovation Banking and Dealroom reveals that Britain has change into a hotbed for AI expertise. Within the first half of this 12 months, machine studying startups accounted for 22% of all UK tech funding, up from 12% in 2019.

Final 12 months, Startups reported that common funding for homegrown AI startups grew by 66% between 2021 and 2023, in line with information from the Startups 100 Index.

HSBC estimates that AI companies in Britain will elevate a record-breaking estimated £3.4bn by the top of the 12 months. The beneath tracker* will file the largest funding rounds raised by AI startups in 2024, to see if the UK can meet (and perhaps even surpass) that focus on.

*This text will probably be up to date month-to-month to incorporate all the most recent AI funding information for UK startups.

July

Ever seen a photograph of somebody sporting an excellent prime on the web and questioned the place they purchased it from? London-based Hey Savi’s AI-powered app permits customers to search out an merchandise they love, in a dimension that matches, in only one snap, for a extremely personalised resolution for customers.

Hey Savi secured £2.2m in funding in mid-July, making it solely the second ever solely female-founded UK tech firm to boost over £2m at pre-seed. It’s nonetheless within the MVP stage, however Sequence A funding could possibly be the subsequent outfit that Hey Savi tries on.

Victoria Peppiatt, Co-founder and Co-CEO, commented on the funding: “The response to our elevate has been phenomenal. The massive help we’ve obtained from excessive profile buyers has each validated the potential of our product and reaffirmed the market alternative. We’re extremely pleased with the truth that 54% of our buyers are feminine.”

June

Generative AI startup, Stability AI has had an (paradoxically) unstable path to energy. Having obtained a $1bn valuation in 2022, it has since struggled with management adjustments and fundraising rounds, apparently as a result of lack of a enterprise mannequin.

Fortunately, after the high-profile exit of its founder and CEO Ema Mostaque earlier this 12 months, Stability has raised new funds and appointed a brand new prime boss. Its 200 workers will probably be hoping that the $80m (£61m) money injection can get the agency again on observe in 2024.

Like many AI startups, CuspAI is an extremely sophisticated enterprise concept. Put merely, it makes use of generative AI to design fully new supplies, by asking a pc to provide it particular properties. It’s a mad, futuristic idea that has to date gained $30m (£27m) in seed funding.

In accordance with TechCrunch, co-founder and CEO (in addition to world-leading chemist) Chad Edwards says: “we predict we’re coming into the ‘materials-on-demand’ period”.

TechCrunch gave a slightly pointed description this June when it wrote that authorized tech startup, Wordsmith had “by some means” managed to draw the eye of two enterprise capitalists. The model raised $5m (£3.86m) with its AI platform for in-house authorized groups and regulation companies.

Nonetheless, {that a} small Scottish startup has gained such consideration is shocking. Traders embody the previous CEO of tech unicorn Skyscanner. TrustPilot is already a buyer. Wordsmith is proof that UK AI tech startups don’t have to be based mostly close to Outdated Avenue to achieve success.

Might

Might noticed the revealing of the UK’s largest AI funding up to now. Wayve, a self-driving automobile startup, secured a record-breaking funding price $1.05bn (£800m), as a part of a funding spherical led by Japan’s SoftBank.

Based by New Zealand-native, Alex Kendall, Wayve makes use of embodied AI to show its computer systems to drive in the identical means that people take driving classes.

The funding means the model has immediately been catapulted to unicorn standing whereas Kendall has change into a recognisable face on the AI market. The then-Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak mentioned the deal “anchors the UK’s place as an AI superpower”.

Barely every week after Wayve introduced its funding information, PolyAI introduced it had raised $50m (£38.5m) to energy its AI voice assistant expertise for name centres.

The London-based startup was based as a spinout from the College of Cambridge. It appeared within the Startups 100 prime ten again in 2023.

The Sequence C funding spherical has resulted within the startups securing a £500m valuation, making it some of the profitable AI companies within the UK right now.

April

One of many greatest startup success tales from 2023 got here from Mistral AI, a French generative AI instrument that Microsoft valued at €2 billion and one of many quickest rising startups globally. Now the backers behind Mistral have invested in one other startup: Jigsaw.

Based in 2019, Jigsaw generates all of the supplies required for advanced enterprise offers. For instance, company construction charts, organisational charts, information flows and extra. Based mostly in London, it raised £12m in early April and has already begun increasing into the US.

Describing itself as “Shopify for Legislation”, Lawhive has constructed an LLM-powered “AI lawyer” which is designed to permit SMEs to entry high-quality authorized help with out the necessity to rent a complete authorized group.

In mid-April, the startup raised £9.5m in a funding spherical led by funding agency GV. It additionally beforehand secured £1.5m in a funding spherical held two years prior.

Qureight is a speedy detection instrument that makes use of AI to crunch huge healthcare datasets to assist clinicians diagnose well being issues quicker, and extra precisely. After beforehand elevating £1.5m in a funding spherical in February 2022, it secured an extra £6.8m in mid-April.

“Use of AI to speed up drug discovery is without doubt one of the hottest alternatives in VC proper now,” mentioned Guinness Ventures funding officer, Dr Malcom King, who participated within the spherical.

March

Based in late 2021 by two Oxford PhD college students, Haiper’s no-code video technology software program allows anybody, no matter tech prowess or graphic design expertise, to simply generate high-quality video content material by inputting only a few traces of directions.

Haiper emerged from ‘stealth mode’ (the place a startup makes an attempt to remain hush so long as doable to keep away from attracting undesirable market consideration) again in March and it’ll by no means be capable to return, after elevating a really loud $13.8m (£10.6m) in a seed spherical.

• Oriole Networks – £10m

Oriole launched in 2023, however it has already handed a big milestone by elevating £10m in seed funding. The startup, which seeks to spice up AI system efficiency by harnessing the facility of sunshine (we’re misplaced already), raised the cash with help from Innovate UK.

Velocity is every little thing at Oriole. With its novel method, Giant Language Fashions could be educated as much as 100 occasions quicker whereas utilizing a lot much less power than rival software program. Plus, the founders estimate the expertise will probably be accessible to B2B prospects in only a few years.

February

Baseimmune, a biotech firm that makes use of deep studying to generate new vaccines, was based in 2019 by three College of Oxford PhD college students. With the COVID-19 pandemic starting simply after launch, their mission assertion has since resonated with buyers.

The startup secured £9m in a Sequence A funding spherical in February, led by new buyers MSD World Well being Innovation Fund and IQ Capital. CEO and co-founder, Joshua Blight mentioned the money will assist to “expedite the supply of impactful vaccines towards future viruses.”

Lilli is a distant monitoring instrument for individuals who want social care. Utilizing sensible dwelling sensors to trace every little thing from the temperature a radiator is about at, to the variety of occasions a rest room is flushed, to flag potential issues earlier than the consumer can discover them.

The corporate, based mostly in Woking, UK, introduced it had raised £8.2m in Sequence A funding again in February. CEO Gren Paull mentioned he’s excited in regards to the potential Lilli has to assist customers preserve their independence at dwelling for so long as doable.

Based by Jason Barrett in 2020, Mondra’s platform allows meals companies to file, share and monitor environmental information utilizing intelligent automation instruments, permitting the measurement and administration of Scope 3 carbon emissions.

As meals retailers, together with huge supermarkets, search to succeed in Web Zero, Mondra will probably discover its means onto extra IT methods. That’s why the startup raised £3.6m on the finish of February, and has already gained partnerships with manufacturers together with Sainsbury’s and Starbucks.

January

Mati Staniszewski was simply 27-years-old when he based ElevenLabs in 2022. The London-based AI startup that employs AI to generate voices used for video dubbing.

Two years later, the corporate has now taken on unicorn standing after it secured $80m (£61m) in a Sequence B funding spherical led by a US-based enterprise capital agency.

Cautious of being a part of the AI bubble, Staniszewski, a former Palantir worker, advised the Night Normal that the cash will probably be used for R&D to surpass rivals. “We realise the subsequent few years are important to remain on the forefront of expertise”, he mentioned.

Based in 2022, Recraft, a London-based generative AI startup, raised €11m (£9.2m) in Sequence A funding in a spherical led by Khosla Ventures. The corporate is exclusive in being one of many few female-led generative AI platforms, and amassed over 300,000 customers in its first 12 months.

In a supportive transfer for the startup neighborhood, Recraft additionally launched the pitch deck that gained it funding from well-known enterprise leaders together with HubSpot co-founder, Dharmesh Shah. Budding entrepreneurs may learn our information on the best way to design a pitch deck for ideas.

Conversational AI is nothing new. Instruments like ChatGPT and Gemini Superior at the moment are utilized by hundreds of companies on a regular basis. However OpenDialog, a no-code platform, is particularly designed for regulated industries akin to insurance coverage and healthcare.

Companies can then construct AI-powered chatbots and digital assistants utilizing OpenDialog, tailor-made to fulfill distinctive business legal guidelines. As a novel instrument answering one of many key challenges for regulated sectors, OpenDialog raised $8m (£6.1m) in Sequence A funding this January.

Any startup that receives funding from Dragon’s Den favorite, Steven Bartlett grabs headlines, and Wondercraft was no completely different. In mid-January, the audio enhancing startup introduced it had raised $3m (£2.36m) in an funding spherical led by Will Ventures.

Having solely launched as a Beta in 2023, the corporate has already amassed 30,000 customers. “I consider [the Wondercraft] product is the way forward for audio manufacturing for creators and publishers so I couldn’t be extra excited to be on board”, Bartlett mentioned in a press launch.