May was a significant month for fundraising in the US, with four rounds reaching $1 billion and AI companies securing over $7 billion.
According to a Crunchbase report, the ranking of the top ten new firms seeking growth financing was led by those implementing AI.
1. xAI
xAI, Elon Musk’s generative AI startup, officially announced its long-awaited fundraising, making it the second most valuable generative AI company in the world. The $6 billion round included investments from firms such as Valor Equity Partners, Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia Capital, and Fidelity Management & Research, among others.
2. CoreWeave
Another significant AI-related funding round. CoreWeave, the AI cloud infrastructure startup, closed a $1.1 billion round led by Coatue, valuing the company at $19 billion.
3. Scale AI
Scale AI raised $1 billion in a round led by Accel, valuing the data annotation and evaluation startup at an astonishing $13.8 billion.
3. Wiz, $1 billion
The cloud security startup Wiz closed the largest cybersecurity round of the year so far, raising $1 billion with a valuation of $12 billion.
5. Motional, Autonomous Vehicles
Hyundai demonstrated its willingness to invest heavily in the Boston-based autonomous driving startup Motional. In May, the automaker agreed to invest $475 million directly into the startup.
6. Uniquity Bio, Biotechnology
Biotechnology also saw some significant rounds in May. The largest was for a new company launched by Blackstone Life Sciences, a unit of the private equity giant Blackstone Group, with a substantial $300 million investment.
7. Vercel, Developer Platform
Vercel, a platform that enables companies to develop web applications in the cloud, secured a Series E of $250 million with a valuation of $3.25 billion.
8. AltruBio, $225 million, Biotechnology
AltruBio secured a Series B of $225 million led by BVF Partners. The San Francisco-based startup is developing therapies for the treatment of ulcerative colitis and other immunological diseases.
9. BridgeBio Oncology Therapeutics, Biotechnology
Biotechnology experienced a significant spin-off in May when BridgeBio Pharma launched its subsidiary BridgeBio Oncology Therapeutics as its own company with $200 million in new funding.
10. Sigma, Analytics
The cloud analytics startup Sigma raised a Series D of $200 million co-led by Spark Capital and Avenir Growth Capital.
11. Zenas BioPharma, Biotechnology
Zenas BioPharma, based in Waltham, Massachusetts, raised a Series C preferred stock round of $200 million led by Delos Capital, New Enterprise Associates, Norwest Venture Partners, and SR One.
