From Sifted.eu, August 12:
Europe’s AI startups are flush with cash. These companies are using funds to expand their teams as quickly as possible
AI took the funding spotlight in Europe last year. Investment in the sector represented around a fifth of total funding at $9bn, largely driven by the recent boom in generative AI. This year is showing no sign of a slowdown, with AI monster rounds ranging from French startup H’s $220m seed round to Mistral’s latest €600m fundraise.
Many AI companies in Europe are vocal about the region’s dense talent pool, and often cite access to top scientists and engineers among the reasons to keep operating on this side of the Atlantic. According to global VC Atomico, Europe’s AI talent base has grown more than 10 times in the past decade to over 120k professionals currently employed in AI roles — more than the US.
Sifted found out which AI startups have hired the most, across all roles, in the past 12 months, using data from Dealroom, LinkedIn and from the companies. To avoid results being skewed by early-stage startups making lots of hires while growing quickly, businesses needed to have raised at least $30m and have at least 50 employees.
Mistral AIHQ city: Paris, FranceFounded: 2023Headcount growth over the last 12 months: 378% to 67 employees (according to LinkedIn data; Sifted contacted Mistral but didn’t get a response)One of France’s most prominent startups, Mistral was founded by former Meta and DeepMind employees just over a year ago with the promise of creating a European AI champion that could compete against US tech giants like Google, Meta or OpenAI. The company builds GenAI models — the same technology that powers ChatGPT — and has garnered plenty of VC attention, raising nearly €1bn in equity since it launched. In June, it closed a €468m equity funding round at a €5.8bn valuation, making it one of France’s best-funded private tech companies.
AutogenAIHQ city: London, UKFounded: 2022Headcount growth over the last 12 months: 366% to 140 employees (confirmed by the company)AutogenAI leverages artificial intelligence, specifically natural language processing, to automate bid writing for enterprises — from drafting and editing to identifying how to improve a proposal based on different scoring criteria. The company has grown fast since it launched in 2022, raising a total $65m in two rounds and opening offices in the US and Australia.
KittlHQ city: Berlin, GermanyFounded: 2020Headcount growth over the last 12 months: 242% to 120 employees (confirmed by the company)Kittl provides an online platform for professional graphic designers, which includes templates and design tools like quote creators and background removers. It offers several AI-powered products, notably a GenAI image generator powered by OpenAI’s Dall-E model. The startup has raised $50m to date, from investors including Left Lane Capital and Speedinvest, and counts organisations like Warner Bros, Netflix and Penguin Random House among its clients....
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