Enterprise Weekly #463: AI's Talent Crunch, LLM Adoption, and More
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AI has taken over (just look at our news and funding sections below 👇).
The competition for top AI talent is heating up as companies race to build the best models and applications. Here’s a few things that stand out:
Big tech is winning: Leading giants in the tech industry (think Microsoft, Meta, OpenAI, Anthropic) are paying big bucks, including million-dollar-a-year compensation packages and accelerated stock-vesting schedules, to ensure they have the best talent. These incentives are almost impossible for early-stage startups to match, making their fight to recruit individuals with relevant AI/ML expertise even more challenging.
There’s an AI talent shortage: It's speculated there are only a couple hundred people who are qualified to train LLMs from scratch or solve vexing problems in AI. This is leading to a revolving door where in-demand folks rotate between top companies. Anticipating this scarcity, we expect a surge in training programs, spanning from the high school and college level to internal corporate initiatives to pop up over the next few years.
Layoffs continue in other areas of tech: Many companies are still navigating the aftermath of the 2023 market downturn, putting themselves behind the curve in future AI advancements.
As Seed investors, we’ve been spending our time at Work-Bench digging into the LLM adoption curve, including what types of companies actually need AI/ML talent vs. full stack engineers that can work with third party and OSS models. This is an open question we're working through and would love to speak with founders and operators building in the space - if you want to chat, reach out here.
📚 Read more news:
CNBC: Amazon Spends $2.75B On AI Startup Anthropic In Its Largest Venture Investment Yet
Crunchbase: Crunchbase Study Of Gender Diversity On Private Company Boards
WSJ: Open-Source Companies Are Sharing Their AI Free. Can They Crack OpenAI’s Dominance?
WSJ: AI is Driving Record Sales at Multibillion-Dollar Databricks. An IPO Can Wait …
WSJ: CFOs Tackle Thorny Calculus on Gen AI: What’s the Return on Investment?
📚 Read more (th)reads:
Company: Alkymi
Role: Strategic Accounts Director
Technology: Data Extraction & Document Automation
Funding: $26M from Intel Capital, Canaan Partners and Work-Bench
🌟 Company of the Week 🌟
Tarsal raises $6M led by Harpoon Ventures and Mango Capital
Risk / Security • Seed • New York, NY
Founder: Sunny Rekhi (CEO), Manny Gundampalli (Chief Architect)
Thoras.ai raises $1.5M led by Storytime Capital and Focal VC
Infrastructure / Dev Tools • Pre-Seed • Reston, VA
SydeLabs raises $2.5M led by RTP Global
Risk / Security • Seed • San Francisco, CA
OpenPipe raises $6.7M led by Costanoa Ventures
Data / AI / Machine Learning • Seed • Seattle, WA
Metaview raises $7M led Vertex Ventures, Coelius Capital and Others
HR Tech • Venture • London, United Kingdom
Cloverleaf raises $7.3M led by Advantage Capital
HR Tech • Series A • Cincinnati, OH
Foundational raises $8M led by Viola Ventures and Gradient
Data / AI / Machine Learning • Seed • San Francisco, CA
Scaleup Finance raises $8M led by Inveready
Future of Work • Seed • Copenhagen, Denmark
Sprocket Security raises $8M led by Blueprint Equity
Risk / Security • Series A • Madison, WI
ValidMind raises $8.1M led by Point72 Ventures
Data / AI / Machine Learning • Seed • Palo Alto, CA
Abstract Security raises $8.5M led by Crosslink Capital, Liquid 2 Ventures, and Others
Risk / Security • Seed • San Francisco, CA
Nominal raises $9.2M led by Bling Capital and Hyperwise Ventures
Future of Work • Seed • New York, NY
Bedrock Security raises $10M led by Greylock
Risk / Security • Seed • Menlo Park, CA
Activeloop raises $11M led by Streamlined Ventures, Alumni Ventures, and Others
Data / AI / Machine Learning • Series A • Mountain View, CA
Oriole Networks raises $12.6M led by UCL Technology Fund, Clean Growth Fund, and Others
Data / AI / Machine Learning • Seed • London, United Kingdom
Hive raises $12.9M led by SC Ventures
Infrastructure / Dev Tools • Series A1 • Geneva, Switzerland
ZayZoon raises $15M led by Viola Fintech
HR Tech • Series B • Phoenix, AZ
Confetti raises $16M led by Entrée Capital and IN Venture
HR Tech • Series A • New York, NY
Tennr raises $18M led by a16z
Collaboration / Productivity • Series A • New York, NY
Finite State raises $20M led by Energy Impact Partners
Risk / Security • Venture • Columbus, OH
Fireworks AI raises $25M led by Benchmark
Data / AI / Machine Learning • Series A • Redwood City, CA
Fieldguide raises $30M led by Bessemer Venture Partners
Collaboration / Productivity • Series B • San Francisco, CA
Skyflow raises $30M led by Khosla Ventures
Data / AI / Machine Learning • Series B • Palo Alto, CA
Zafran raises $30M led by Sequoia Capital and Cyberstarts
Risk / Security • Series A • Tel Aviv, Israel
Global Screening Services raises $47M led by AlixPartners, Cynosure Group, and Commonwealth Bank of Australia
Risk / Security • Series A • London, United Kingdom
Hume AI raises $50M led by EQT Ventures
Data / AI / Machine Learning • Series B • New York, NY
Eliyan raises $60M led by Samsung Catalyst Fund and Tiger Global Management
Data / AI / Machine Learning • Series B • San Jose, CA
Coro raises $100M led by One Peak
Risk / Security • Series D • New York, NY
Observe raises $115M led by Sutter Hill Ventures
Risk / Security • Series B • San Mateo, CA
Celestial AI raises $175M led by USIT
Data / AI / Machine Learning • Series C • Santa Clara, CA