French founder of artificial intelligence startup Mistral AI, Arthur Mensch, attends the Viva technology show at Parc des Exposition Porte de Versailles on May 22, 2024 in Paris, France.
Chesnot | Getty Images Entertainment | Getty Images
According to a new report from venture capital firm Accel, the most funded artificial intelligence companies in Europe were founded by entrepreneurs with experience at American technology companies.
A quarter of the 221 generative AI companies in Europe and Israel previously worked at Apple, Amazon, DeepMind, Meta, Google and Microsoft, according to the report, developed in partnership with DelRome.
This figure rises to more than a third (38%) for 40 European and Israeli generative AI companies in terms of venture funding, and the top 10 generative AI companies for funding level. 60% for
Harry Nellis, general partner at Accel, told CNBC that tech companies are natural catalysts for new generative AI firms, because those companies are “leaning the most forward in AI and … when it comes to data, they have skills, when it comes to money.”
“They are really smart in that they see how an early lead in an area can lead to a massive competitive advantage,” he said, adding that people with an “entrepreneurial mindset” So there is a “golden opportunity” to create your own genAI. Ventures
Europe's best funded genAI startups
| Company | Founding country | Founding city | Funding was raised yesterday. |
|---|---|---|---|
| France | Paris | $1.1 billion | |
| Germany | Heidelberg | 641 million dollars | |
| France | Paris | $396 million | |
| France | Paris | $335 million | |
| France | Paris | $235 million | |
| United Kingdom | London | $157 million | |
| United Kingdom | London | $151 million | |
| United Kingdom | London | $118 million |
In its research, Accel defines generative AI as “an emerging AI frontier that uses models trained on a large data set of content … to create something new rather than just analyzing existing ones.” of the.”
Many of the biggest US tech firms have already made early forays into AI — and Europe is a growing focus, Nels noted.
Google bought British AI lab DeepMind in 2014, and the firm's tech is now key to AI products, including its Gemini generative AI tools.
Facebook's parent company Metta opened the European Arm of Fair or Facebook AI Research in Paris in 2015.
Many of the founders of prominent AI startups developing generative AI tools come from Google, DeepMind and Meta.
For example, Microsoft-backed French startup Mistral counts Arthur Mensch, a former DeepMind AI scientist, as its CEO. Co-founders Timothée Lacroix and Guillaume Lempel both worked at Meta.
And fellow French AI firm H, which is backed by Amazon, was co-founded by former DeepMind researchers Laurent Sifre and Karl Tuyls, and Stanford University alumnus Charles Cantor.
According to Accel, Mistral has raised $1 billion in funding to date, while H, which is only a few months old, has already raised $235 million.
Google is the top producer of new generative AI startups in Europe and Israel, Accel said, with 11.3% of genAI companies founders having past experience at the tech giant.
DeepMind, owned by Google, came in second, accounting for 5 percent of generative AI firms. Meta is third, generating 4.1 percent.
Axel noted that universities play an important role in the creation of generative AI startups. It says many European universities now act as so-called “founder factories” that produce new startup founders.
More than a third (38%) of companies have at least one founder who is or has held a position in an academic institution – such as a professor, researcher or lecturer.
Lourdes Agapeto, co-founder of British AI firm Synthesia — which uses generative AI to remove the need for physical equipment in video production — is professor of 3D vision at University College London.
Her time at UCL helped connect her with like-minded AI innovators, she says.
While at UCL, Agapito got to know Synthesia's co-founder, Matthias Niessner, before forming the company with CEO Victor Ripperbelli and chief operating officer Stefan Tejerald.
“Looking back at Synthesia's founding team, what was special about us is that we complemented each other so well skill-wise,” Agapito told CNBC via email.
Agapeto said being based in London was another “key ingredient” behind Synthesia's early success.
British universities are the most popular study destination for creative AI founders, according to Excel research. Cambridge University produces the most prolific AI companies, with 7.9% of founders having studied there.
France's Ecole Polytechnique is Europe's second-highest academic founder factory, with 7% of creative AI founders having studied there.