TECH STARTUPS
The excitement over AI which started with the sudden success of ChatGPT is still growing strong. AI startups continue to attract billions of dollars in funding from eager investors seeking to capitalize on the latest AI advancements, and over the past few months, there has been a surge of funding for generative AI startups.
The latest to ride the AI funding wave is AlphaSense, a New York-based AI startup developing an AI-powered platform that helps financial professionals make better investment decisions.
AlphaSense announced Thursday that it has raised $150 million in a Series funding that pushed the company’s valuation to $2.5 billion from $1.8 billion valuation back in April. The investment further underscores the robust demand for artificial intelligence (AI) startups. The funding round was led by the technology investment firm BOND and saw the participation of existing investors, including Alphabet’s CapitalG, Viking Global Investors, and Goldman Sachs
AlphaSense will use the fresh capital infusion to facilitate the expansion of AlphaSense’s extensive collection of searchable business content and strategic acquisitions aimed at enhancing platform capabilities, as highlighted by the company.
We covered AlphaSense back in April after the startup raised $100 million led by Alphabet’s venture capital arm CapitalG, with participation from existing investors Goldman Sachs Asset Management and Viking Global. AlphaSense said at the time it would use the new cash infusion to further its advanced artificial intelligence capabilities. AlphaSense was last valued at $1.7 billion after raising $225 million in 2022.
Founded in 2011 by CEO Jack Kokko, AlphaSense offers a market intelligence platform that helps customers extract relevant information from a trove of public and private content such as equity research, earnings calls, company filings, and news. The company also competes with companies like Bloomberg, Norway-based Exabel, and FactSet in providing data on businesses that can help inform corporate and investment strategies.
When asked about the possibility of an initial public offering (IPO), CEO Jack Kokko told Reuters that the company currently possesses “plenty of capital more than we could hope for” right now. AlphaSense’s focus is on investing in new endeavors, particularly in the realm of generative AI, as they explore opportunities to broaden their product offerings, as Kokko elaborated in an interview.
AlphaSense plays a pivotal role in assisting its customers in extracting pertinent information from a wealth of both public and private sources, including equity research, earnings calls, company filings, and news.
Commenting on the state of AI, Mary Meeker, General Partner at BOND said: “Artificial intelligence tools that help you discover insights from data are scaling rapidly.” BOND’s investment underscores AlphaSense’s robust revenue growth, as emphasized in the statement from the market intelligence firm.
