AI startups raise US$12.3bn in three years says report

Artificial intelligence (AI) startups in the Built World sector have raised a total of US$12.3bn in the past three years, according to a new report by venture capital fund A/O PropTech.

In 2022 alone, investment in startups using AI for the Built World reached US$4.2 billion, with London attracting more deals than San Francisco and more deals than Paris, Berlin, Dublin, and Tel Aviv combined since 2017.

The report found that since 2012, Built World AI startups in Europe and North America alone received a total of US$18.6 billion in venture capital funding, of which nearly half was raised in the last two years (US$8.6 billion).

In 2020 and 2022, AI venture deals in the Built World overtook those in the fintech AI sector, reaching over 600 deals globally in 2021. 

Built World startups are leveraging technologies like computer vision, digital twins, and robotics to make processes, operations, and decisions more efficient, more streamlined, and better informed. Generative AI, a technology still in its infancy, is being used to optimise building design through architectural concept design model creation, rendering, and even the generation of a Building Information Model (BIM) from a simple descriptive text.

Gregory Dewerpe, founder and CIO of A/O PropTech, said, “New technologies like generative AI look set to cause seismic changes in a number of sectors. When it comes to the Built World, we are already seeing the adoption of generative AI applications across the entire lifecycle from design, architecture and construction to operations and management.

“However it is important to look at innovation in a holistic manner, and while AI has massive potential, it will require the entire tech stack of the Built World to progress forward (data, transparency, automation) to yield game-changing impact. That’s precisely why we are tackling this generational industry transition, the largest of our generation, through a whole array of technologies, which directly and indirectly contribute to a better Built World. Broadening digitisation will be key to enable innovators to leverage generative models and other AI technologies to unlock true automation in the Built World - which can be essential for decarbonising our buildings and cities.”