{"id":633186,"date":"2024-09-03T01:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-09-02T22:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/sparklabs-closes-50m-fund-to-back-ai-startups\/"},"modified":"2024-09-03T01:00:00","modified_gmt":"2024-09-02T22:00:00","slug":"sparklabs-closes-50m-fund-to-back-ai-startups","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/sparklabs-closes-50m-fund-to-back-ai-startups\/","title":{"rendered":"#SparkLabs closes $50M fund to back AI startups"},"content":{"rendered":"
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SparkLabs<\/a> \u2014 an early-stage venture capital firm that has made a name for itself for backing OpenAI<\/a> as well as a host of other AI startups such as Vectara, Allganize, Kneron, Anthropic, xAI, Glade (YC S23) and Lucidya AI \u2014 is gearing up to double down more startups in the space. The VC firm announced Tuesday that it has closed a new $50 million fund, AIM AI Fund, which will back AI startups out of its own AIM-X accelerator in Saudi Arabia as well as other AI startups across the globe.<\/p>\n

SparkLabs\u2019 new fund and its wider investment aims underscore the bigger trends that have swirled around artificial intelligence for the last few years. The explosion of interest in generative AI in particular has led to a surge of startups in the space, as well as a rush of investors looking for the next Open AI \u2014 or at the least, a startup that a bigger company might snap up as it looks to sharpen its own AI edge. <\/p>\n

It also points to how the AI opportunity continues to widen beyond Silicon Valley. AIM-X is an AI-focused startup accelerator that SparkLabs launched earlier this year<\/a> in the kingdom as part of its AI Mission, a national initiative<\/a> to bolster AI technology<\/a> over the next five years.<\/p>\n

There has been a significant increase in AI startups on a global scale over the past few years. As of March 2024, more than 210 AI unicorns, valued at over $1 billion, have emerged, per the Edge Delta report<\/a>. Yet despite it being a global phenomenon, the U.S. overall still leads the pack for founding the most AI startups between 2013 and 2022 with 4,633 startups, according to the report.<\/p>\n

About 35% of SparkLabs\u2019 new fund will support accelerator participants, with the remaining 65% targeted at making Series<\/a> A and Series B investments beyond Saudi Arabia, according to co-founder and CEO of SparkLabs Bernard Moon.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe accelerator will seek a minority allocation for Saudi Arabia or MENA investments, about 10%-20%,\u201d Moon said. \u201cThe majority will be just the best AI startups regardless of location\u2026 I assume the majority in the U.S.\u201d<\/p>\n

The average check size for accelerator participants will be $200,000, but it can go up to $500,000 in unique situations, Moon told TechCrunch. The Series A and Series B investments will be between $1 million and $5 million, Moon added. It aims to invest between 50 and 70 companies in total from the fund.<\/p>\n

SparkLabs did not name its limited partners, but Moon said its LPs include a government fund of funds.<\/p>\n

Its first batch will be announced live at the GAIN Summit<\/a> (Global AI Summit) in Riyadh next Tuesday, September 10. Moon exclusively told TechCrunch that SparkLabs has already invested in 14 startups, the first batch, via the AI fund:<\/p>\n