Carmen Linares Pardo’s Post

Big things are happening for startups here! Earlier this month, Hamilton, Ontario-based Inference Labs Inc., an AI and Web3 startup, closed $2.3 million in pre-seed funding towards making AI inference more accessible. Congratulations to co-founders Colin Gagich and Ron Chan! The round was co-led by DACM (Digital Asset Capital Management), Mechanism Capital, and Delphi Ventures, with additional participation from Big Brain Holdings, Bitscale Capital, Edessa Capital, ID Theory, Metropolis DAO, Mozaik Capital, Newman Capital, Seed Club Ventures, and several angel investors. 💡 So here's why this investment is such a big deal: AI inference is the stage where a trained machine-learning model applies its knowledge to make deductions or predictions based on fresh data. Making AI inference accessible allows smaller businesses and startups to unlock more opportunities to foster innovation. This in turn enables businesses to streamline operations and increase efficiency with AI, implement greater ethical guidelines and regulation of AI systems, and fuel economic growth by creating more jobs in the Canadian tech sector. 👉 Read more in the BetaKit article: https://lnkd.in/gpqg7kBp #AI #Web3 #Startups #Funding #Investment #CanadianBusiness #HamOnt #Hamilton #Ontario

Indicator Capital, Astella and bossa invest are among the most active investors in Brazilian AI startups in Q1 2024. AI startups are increasingly taking the innovation spotlight. In our quarterly report, in collaboration with Itaú BBA, we revealed that Brazilian AI startups raised $110M in Q1 2024. We proudly acknowledge three of our clients who led AI investments last quarter: Indicator Capital was the most active investor, participating in 3 rounds (umgrauemeio, Cogtive BR, and Neowrk). Astella (Traive and Gabriel) and bossa invest (WeConecta and Celera) also made significant contributions this quarter. Antler, Crescera Capital, and EqSeed were also among the top investors, each participating in 2 deals. Read the full article on startups.com.br to dive deeper into these insights! [Link in the comments] 🔍 At Sling Hub, we classify AI startups into two categories: AI-first (with AI as the core of their product and proprietary technology) and AI-enabled (leveraging AI to enhance their business model without AI being the core or proprietary). 👉 Interested in exploring the power of AI in your business? Try our exclusive AI-mapping tool today: https://lnkd.in/e_CRpehg Thank you to our clients for their continued trust and to all the innovative startups driving the AI revolution! #IA #artificialintelligence #LatAm #startupsLatAm

"There are several reasons why startup investments are worthwhile right now," shares our Co-founder & Partner Dr. Hendrik Brandis – from less competitive pressure to the maturity of new technologies, such as artificial intelligence. In a recent article by Christoph Kapalschinski, Hendrik refers to historical data that proves the advantage of starting in a recession: Venture capital funds launched in the boom years of 2006 - 2007 would have brought investors an annual return of just under nine percent. Funds from the financial crisis years 2008 to 2010 achieved an impressive 25 percent. No one doubts that this crisis will also pass. Hendrik predicts the scene could recover as early as 2024 and spreads further optimism: Earlybird was one of the first investors in the Heidelberg-based AI startup Aleph Alpha, which is now considered the German hope in the AI field. 👀 See more in Welt on 'Why it is the best time to be a founder' (🇩🇪): https://lnkd.in/d3af3cKk Photo source: Getty Images #AI #VC #Startups #Founders #Investment #Resilience #EBVCnews

➡ Unlocking Potential: Europe's AI Sector Thrives with Expertise and Emerging Leaders The momentum of European AI start-ups remains strong, as the impressive example of Mistral illustrates. Within just one year, the startup managed to secure funding totalling half a billion euros with a competent team and earn a place among the top 50 AI startups worldwide according to Forbes. Although globally only eight of the top 50 start-ups currently come from Europe, the 30% higher density of AI experts compared to the USA shows that the potential for future growth and innovation is enormous. Mistral's success proves that the race in the AI sector is by no means over and that now is the ideal time to invest in this promising market. This emphasises not only the strategic importance of European innovation, but also the exceptional opportunities available to investors in this dynamic environment. (According to a study by sequoia) #AIInvestment #EuropeanVC #StartupGrowth #InnovationLeaders #TechTrends

Zefi.ai closes a €1.6 million pre-seed round!🚀 The Italian startup specializes in using artificial intelligence to analyze companies' interactions with their users. The round was led by 360 Capital and 14Peaks Capital. Investors also include Italy's B Heroes, BIT - Believe in Tech , Vento (Exor Ventures' incubator programme) and Growth Engine, and Spain's Secways, Aticco Ventures and Halo, Lakestar's angel programme.✍️ Founded in Lecce in 2023 by Aurora Maggio, Alexandros Fokianos, Daniele Borlizzi, Leonardo Vezzati and Nicola Sebastianelli, Zefi has developed a platform that allows companies to centralise and automatically analyse all conversations with their end customers. Using #AI, Zefi helps identify growth areas and cost reduction opportunities, enabling companies to understand their customers better, reduce churn and increase loyalty.💡 The funds raised in this financing round will be used to bring to market one of the most sophisticated technologies in the industry, as well as to attract the best technology talent in Europe and deliver value to their customers with a quality product.📈 Follow Arcadia to learn more about #Italianstartups!

What are angels investing in? From Construction To AI Diagnostics, Here Are 5 Areas Where Seed Investors Are Most Active (crunchbase.com) #startup

What are angels investing in? From Construction To AI Diagnostics, Here Are 5 Areas Where Seed Investors Are Most Active (crunchbase.com) #startup

See you at Challenger AI Demo Day already tomorrow, on Friday, 10th of May. Now, as the Challenger AI Accelerator Program 2.0 comes to a close, we are thrilled to invite you to the Demo Day, where 11 startups will showcase their progress and technology-driven solutions. Vira Tkachenko, CTO at MacPaw 🇺🇦, one of the most successful Ukrainian product companies will give a keynote speech and tell us how MacPaw is leveraging AI technologies in their product offerings and operations. Furthermore, Yuriy Zaremba, Co-founder & CEO at AISDR, 2x YCombinator alumni (raised 3M USD), Daniil Lubkin, Co-founder of Beholder, Challenger AI Alumni (raised ~1M USD) will share their insights and experience on raising investments for their AI startups. The discussion will be moderated by Andrii Brodetskyi from Horizon Capital. Join us offline in Kyiv or online to see 11 startups pitching. We are happy to have Riivo Anton from Specialist VC, Roman Cherepakha from Horizon Capital, Vlad Tislenko from SMRK Venture Fund and Herman Stohniiev from SID Venture Partners and Roman Prokofyev, Jooble founder and angel investor, joining us tomorrow to challenge startups with their tough questions. 📌When: Friday, May 10, from 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM. 📍Location: MacPaw Space, Kyiv. 🌐 Alternatively, you can join the live online broadcast. Don't miss this opportunity to see the future of AI and meet the global startup community and network with like-minded individuals from the startup ecosystem. Register now to save your spot: https://lnkd.in/e8UvwM3M Challenger AI is organized by Civitta and Radar Tech, financed by the Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs from the funds of development cooperation and humanitarian aid, in partnership with Western NIS Enterprise Fund. #DemoDay #StartupAccelerator #Networking #ChallengerAccelerator #AIstartups #civittaforstartups #investors

#fundingalert 💼Company: Mistral AI 💰Funding: €600Million ⚡Round: New Round 👥Investors: Lightspeed, Andreessen Horowitz, Bpifrance, and @BNP Paribas, General Catalyst led the round. Mistral is a small, imaginative team with strict adherence to science. By revolutionary advances, they create transparent, effective, useful, and reliable AI models. This raise is the largest all-purpose AI capital injection that Europe has ever seen. The largest shareholders of Meta and Deepmind, co-founders Timothee Lacroix Guillaume Lample and Arthur Mensch, are still in place. Arthur Mensch, Paul Murphy, Cédric O, Audrey Herblin-Stoop, Pavankumar Reddy M Read more - https://lnkd.in/ghRWzHH3 To share your startup story write us on - contact@startuprise.co.uk #Mistral #imaginative #revolutionary #AIcapital #news #funding #fundingnews #startup #startupnews #startuprise

AI Innovation Insights from Hannover Fair 2024! I joined a dynamic panel discussion on "#AIInnovation and Investment in Germany and Canada" at the "Industrial Startup Stage", uncovering key takeaways: 🔍 Identified a common challenge: Carsten Kraus highlighted the financing gap for startups during the crucial scale-up phase in both Germany and Canada. 🌱 Contrasting perceptions: While the AI ecosystems in both countries thrive, Canada's society shows a more positive embrace of AI compared to Germany. Let's fuel the dialogue on bridging investment gaps and supporting startup innovations! #Innovation #AIInnovation #Investment #startups