📣 SWIFTSCALE SOAPBOX
With Great Hype Comes Great Irresponsibility - July 1st, 2023
Out with the old, in with the new. Move over metaverse, there’s a new toy in town … Generative AI is the toast of today.
LinkedIn ‘influencers’ sporting #crypto #web3 #nft in their bios have updated to #ChatGPT #OpenAI #Singularity, and venture capital is absolutely LOVING it. According to Pitchbook, VCs have increased investment in Generative AI by 425% since 2020, with $1.6Bn invested in Q1 2023.
And, as per usual, with great hype comes great irresponsibility. Every software company is now “AI-enabled”, tech’s meaningless equivalent of “all natural” (credit to Devin Coldewey, TechCrunch). Now, many of the top investors are paying ridiculous premiums to grab as much of this nascent market as possible.
Eleven Labs (AI-powered text-to-speech), which launched earlier this year, raised a $19m Series A at $100m valuation; Synthesia (synthetic avatars) secured $90m, valuing the startup at $1Bn (up from $300m in December ’21); and Mistral AI (open source large language models) secured €105M in what is reportedly Europe’s largest seed round - made all the more barmy given the company was founded ~1 month ago.
Matt Tuck, Managing Director at FirstMark (and one of the funniest people in venture) sums up all the fun beautifully: “Generative AI investing: a process by which venture capital firms transfer large amounts of money to NVIDIA via intermediaries known as startups.”
Till next month ...
Alex Sainty
🔍 SCALEUP IN FOCUS - PEAK AI
Client snapshot: ASOS | Adidas | Astrazenca | GSK | Nike
Summary: Peak's AI platform optimises inventories, pricing and customer personalisation for businesses of all sizes, deployed in weeks – not years.
Peak partners with global industry leaders including Nike, Molson Coors, PepsiCo and B&M. With a library of highly impactful applications that fit a variety of use cases across sectors, including consumer goods, retail and manufacturing, users can rapidly apply AI to deliver on commercial objectives, while giving them the tools they need to extend their use of it over time.
In today’s world, every company needs its own AI to compete and win. The AI can be used to optimise all key business decisions and allow businesses to run their operations like never before.
Whether it’s a 28% uplift in email revenue, a 73% increase in recommender-driven average order value (AOV), or using AI to make stock distribution decisions in one hour that used to take them one week, Peak speeds up time to value for its customers, so they can keep hitting their business objectives.
Customer Testimonial
“Peak has actually opened B&M’s eyes to the art of the possible when it comes to AI.”
- Simon Buckley, Head of Merchandising at B&M
📚 WHAT WE’RE READING
Nvidia, the AI-chip Goliath, whose share price recently experienced a 30% single day uplift, is opening a Tech Cohort in West England. (UKTN)
Thomson Reuters bought CaseText, an AI legal tech startup, for $650m in cash. (Techcrunch)
Is AI a catalyst for HR disruption? Personio reached out to 500 C-suite level executives and 1000 HR decision makers to find out. (Tech.eu)
The Unicorn social app, IRL, has shut down after admitting 95% of its users were fake. (Tech.co)
Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg agree to hold an MMA cage fight. (BBC News)
🎉 EVENTS
Last time:
On June 8th, we held our Future Leaders of Procurement: AI & Automation event. We'd like to say a big thank you to all the executives who attended, and to the six incredibly impressive startups who presented: Fairmarkit, Keelvar, Ignite Procurement, Pactum, Procure AI and SupplyHive!
Next time:
Our next event will be 'Future Leaders of HR: AI and Automation' This session will highlight how AI and Automation can drive efficiency in hiring and retention, promote inclusivity and improve employee performance. It's scheduled to take place on 24th August at 3pm BST, so mark you calendars! ... Register interest
Upcoming:
Future Leaders of IT Security: AI & Automation - September 7th, 3-4pm BST ... Register interest
Future Leaders is a series of private sessions introducing senior leaders to rising stars in the startup ecosystem and associated cutting-edge technology.
💡 WHAT'S NEW AT SWIFTSCALE?
This month, the team met with Ted Shelton, Expert Partner - AI & Automation at Bain & Co to talk about AI & Enterprise. We attended London Tech Week and the AI Summit in London. We met with Otium Capital, the venture fund of Pierre-Edouard Stérin, the founder of Smartbox, and Hector brought his dog into the office...she drank from Alex's mug and had to go home.
In exciting news, we've also kicked off our podcast "Chasing Elephants". It’s available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Amazon Music.
Over the course of several episodes, we'll sit down with business leaders, growth investors and startup founders to explore emerging technologies and the trials and tribulations facing startups as they try to do business with large corporates (and vice-versa). We can't wait to share the first episode with you!