The Year of AI
There’s no doubt that 2023 was the year of AI. Its explosive popularity ushered in a slew of new opportunities in technological innovation, societal improvement, and scientific discovery. And, while the markets performed better than anticipated as the economy seems to have escaped the much-threatened recession, the venture market was largely in retreat. In 2023, funding dropped 30% and the global exit value was the lowest it had been since 2017, according to Pitchbook. Despite the tough venture climate and overall pullback, at Intel Capital, we remained as active as ever deploying more than $350M into 30 new investments in 2023.
We doubled down on our investments in companies shaping the future of Cloud, Devices, Frontier, and Silicon, the four key domains we focus on that feed into the future of compute. AI runs deeply through all four of our domain areas, where we’ve invested in everything from AI infrastructure and applications to AI in the FAB and AI PC. Over the last decade, we invested in companies like Anyscale, Bria, Common Sense Machines, Inworld AI, Landing AI, Lilt, SambaNova Systems, and Untether AI. And, in 2023, we were fortunate to welcome a number of cutting-edge AI companies around the globe into the Intel Capital portfolio, including, AI21, Articul8, Asato, FigureAI, TuMeke, Twelve Labs, and MatrixSpace, among others yet to be announced. These companies not only represent the impressive caliber of founders we’re seeing in AI - deep thinkers who are in the depths of opening a new industrial revolution - but they also represent the high quality of companies in which we continue to invest and collaborate with.
Since Intel Capital’s inception, we’ve aimed to be a force multiplier for the companies we invest in. This past year alone, our portfolio development team facilitated more than 1,350 highly curated customer introductions, and our Embedded Expert Program placed dozens of experts from across the Intel ecosystem directly inside portfolio companies to work side-by-side with them on technical challenges, product development, market adoption, and strategies for efficient scaling.
Despite the macro unpredictability that marked 2023, we remained focused on identifying the next set of entrepreneurs and companies defining the future of compute and putting our full weight behind making them successful. I am grateful to the incredible team that does the important work of company building every day on behalf of our portfolio. 2024 is already off to a promising start with significant signs of economic recovery. And if the companies and entrepreneurs we’ve met in these first few weeks of the year are any indicator, 2024 is set to be a thrilling year for the next generation of AI discovery, innovation, and growth.
