According to data published by PitchBook on Wednesday, venture capital funding in the United States surged to $55. 6 billion in the second quarter, marking the highest quarterly total in two years. This figure represents a 47% increase from the $37. 8 billion raised by U. S. startups in the first quarter. The significant investments in artificial intelligence companies played a major role in driving this growth, with Elon Musk's xAI raising $6 billion and CoreWeave raising $1. 1 billion. Investors' ongoing enthusiasm for AI technology, which has the potential to yield substantial returns, has fueled the recovery of venture capital funding. After reaching a record high of $97. 5 billion in the fourth quarter of 2021, U. S. VC funding had been steadily declining.

It hit a recent low of $35. 4 billion in the second quarter of 2023 due to a high interest rate environment and a sluggish exit market. However, the recent influx of capital into AI startups has reversed this downward trend, leading more investors to focus on AI foundation model companies and various applications, ranging from code generation to productivity tools. Despite the increase in deal activity, the data indicates that exits are still challenging, as small deals generated only $23. 6 billion in exit value in the second quarter, down from $37. 8 billion in the first quarter. The initial public offering market has struggled to gain momentum, even after some VC-backed companies, such as Rubrik, a cloud data management company, went public. "For VC returns to see an increase, large tech companies must begin to list publicly at a higher pace than we have seen through the first half of the year, " stated Kyle Stanford, a PitchBook analyst. Emerging VC fund managers may already feel the pressure of a lack of proven returns, as they have only managed to raise $37. 4 billion in commitments through the first half of the year. Large firms, such as Andreessen Horowitz, have dominated fundraising, closing new funds totaling more than $7 billion. (Reporting by Krystal Hu in New York; Editing by Jamie Freed)