2018 is over and 2019 is underway. Will 2019 register the same magnitude of impact as 2018 for the AI ecosystem in Israel at large? Maybe not, because 2018 recorded a record year of funding in history:
The quarterly segmentation from 2017 to 2018 highlights the growth in funding from Q4 of 2018, accounting for the majority of growth year over year. In fact, Q4 2018 recorded 65% higher funding than the previous period:
The growth gap was largely attributable to the surge in growth round deals in the fourth quarter of 2018:
Overall, 2018 was marked by growth rounds, even setting the largest series B round in history with Habana Labs' $75 million series B:
Adding more contribution to the already heavily funded AI ecosystem in Israel where the top 10 most funded Israeli AI startups account for 1.94 billion in venture capital funding: