The year 2023 will be remembered as the year of recognizing the potential of Artificial Intelligence. As a result, investor interest in the sector surged, and lawmakers also focused on regulatory controls. In the same year, the European AI companies raised €2.1 billion over 141 deals.The trend of investing in AI companies continued in 2024. As stated in the Tech.eu report “European Tech 2024: The big picture” European AI companies raised nearly €3 billion through 137 deals, which is about 35% more than the year before.French companies took the top spot in terms of countries, securing over €1.3 billion across 14 deals (almost half of all AI investments in Europe in 2024). German companies followed in second place with €910.3 million raised over 23 deals, while the UK ranked third with €318.1 million raised over 33 deals.The sector will likely see further innovations and a broader range of AI-driven solutions as regulatory frameworks evolve, fueling even more investments and deals in the coming year.Here are the 10 biggest deals in European AI companies in 2024.10. Gcore (Luxembourg)Amount raised in 2024: $60MGcore is a global provider of cloud, edge, and AI solutions, offering a comprehensive suite of services designed to accelerate AI training, enhance content delivery, and protect servers and applications.With a network spanning over 180 points of presence worldwide, Gcore delivers high-performance infrastructure tailored to meet the diverse needs of businesses across various industries.By leveraging Gcore's solutions, businesses can achieve enhanced scalability, security, and performance, driving growth and success in the digital era.In 2024, the company raised $60 million, which will be strategically invested in enhancing Gcore's technology and platform, including the development of AI servers powered by NVIDIA GPUs, to fuel AI-driven innovations.9

Flat Capital has invested SEK 9 million in Magic AI, an AI and code generation company, by purchasing existing shares. Magic, founded in 2022 by Eric Steinberger, aims to achieve secure Artificial General Intelligence. The company has raised $515 million (SEK 6 billion) so far, with backing from investors like Sequoia Capital and Eric Schmidt. Hanna Andreen, CEO of Flat Capital, expressed excitement about the potential industry impact of Magic's innovations.

Wenn 2023 das Jahr des ChatGPT-Durchbruchs war, dann war 2024 das Jahr der AI-Megarunden. Denn im Rennen um Marktanteile im boomenden Generative-AI-Segment wurden Finanzierungsrunden gemacht, die die (Startup-)Welt in diesem Ausmaß noch nicht gesehen hat. OpenAI holte sich mit 6,6 Milliarden Dollar die größte Finanzierungsrunde aller Zeiten ab, Konkurrent Anthropic schnappte sich dieses Jahr satte 7 Milliarden Dollar, und xAI von Elon Musk holte sich gar 2 mal jeweils sechs Milliarden Dollar. Die AI-Welle ist auch nicht an Österreich bzw. eigentlich Gründern aus Österreich vorbei geschwappt. In den Top 30 der best finanzierten AI-Startups der Welt finden sich mit Magic und Liquid AI zwei Startups mit österreichischen Gründern, die 2024 sehr viel Geld von sehr renommierten Risikokapitalgebern aufgenommen haben