There are more AI startups in healthcare than any other single industry. The number of AI startups in media and entertainment is about the same as that in retail. More than one in 10 of all AI startups is based in California.
How do we know this? NVIDIA Inception, our acceleration platform for AI startups, has now surpassed 8,500 members. That’s about two-thirds of the total number of AI startups worldwide, as estimated by Pitchbook. With total cumulative funding of over $60 billion and members in 90 countries, NVIDIA Inception is one of the largest AI startup ecosystems in the world.
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With this type of scale, NVIDIA Inception is more than a singular program; it’s a reflection of the larger startup landscape. And there’s plenty that can be inferred based on this.
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Data Across 8,500+ Startups
NVIDIA Inception figures show the United States leads the world in terms of both the number of AI startups, representing nearly 27 percent, and the amount of secured funding, accounting for over $27 billion in cumulative funding.
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Of U.S.-based startups, 42 percent were based in California — more than one in 10 AI startups is based in the state — with 29 percent in the San Francisco Bay Area. This underscores the continued draw of the region for startup founders and VC funding.
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Following the U.S. is China, in terms of both funding and company stage, with 12 percent of NVIDIA Inception members based there. India comes in third at 7 percent, with the United Kingdom right behind at 6 percent.
Taken together, AI startups based in the U.S., China, India and the U.K. account for just over half of all startups in NVIDIA Inception. Following in order after these are Germany, Russia, France, Sweden, Netherlands, Korea and Japan.
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In terms of industries, healthcare, IT services, intelligent video analytics (IVA), media and entertainment (M&E) and robotics are the top five in NVIDIA Inception. AI startups in healthcare account for 16 percent of Inception members, followed by those in IT services at 15 percent. AI startups in IVA make up 8 percent, with M&E and robotics AI startups tied at 7 percent.
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Details Spanning 3,000+ Startups Since 2020
More than 3,000 AI startups have joined NVIDIA Inception since 2020. Similar to data across Inception as a whole, AI startups from the U.S. account for the largest segment (27 percent), followed by China (12 percent), and India and the U.K. (tied at 6 percent).
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Additionally, startups that have joined since 2020 are concentrated in the same top five industries, though in slightly different order. IT services leads the way at 17 percent, followed by healthcare at 16 percent, M&E at 9 percent, IVA at 8 percent and robotics at 5 percent.
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Within the top two industries — healthcare and IT services — there’s more detail among AI startups who have joined since 2020. The dominant segment within IT services is computer vision at 27 percent, with predictive analytics in second place at 9 percent. The top two segments in healthcare are medical analytics at 38 percent and medical imaging at 36 percent, though the fastest growth is among AI startups in the pharma and AI biology industries at 15 percent.
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Virtual and augmented reality startup companies are far outpacing any other segment within M&E, mostly due to the pandemic. These startups are coming to NVIDIA Inception with a shared vision of building an ecosystem for the metaverse.
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Disruption Through Startups
Since Inception’s launch in 2016, it has grown more than tenfold. This growth has accelerated year over year, with membership increasing to 26 percent in 2020, and already reaching 17 percent in the first half of 2021.
NVIDIA Inception is a program built to accommodate and nurture every startup that is accelerating computing, at every stage in their journey. All program benefits are free of charge — there are no fees ever. And unlike other accelerators or incubators, startups never have to give up equity to join.
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Startups are the single best lens into the future of modern AI, so join with us today by applying for NVIDIA Inception.
