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This is a monthly feature that runs down the month’s top 10 funding rounds in the U.S. Check out the biggest rounds of last month here.

May was a big month to raise, well, really big. Four rounds hit $1 billion or more and companies needed to raise at least $200 million to make this list. Not surprisingly AI led the way — as it always seems to do — with a trio of a billion-or-more rounds.

1. , $6B, artificial intelligence: ’s generative AI startup, , officially announced its long-awaited fundraise — making it the second-most-valuable generative AI company in the world behind only competitor . The $6 billion round included investment from the likes of , , and Management & Research, among others. The new funding values the company at $24 billion post-money, well behind OpenAI’s but well ahead of the $18 billion that fellow generative AI rival is now valued at after its last raise. The xAI round had been rumored for months. Musk’s company was announced just last July and released its competitor, Grok, last November. It introduced its latest AI model, called Grok-1.5,  earlier this year. Grok is trained off data from another one of Musk’s companies, .

2. , $1.1B, artificial intelligence: Another big AI-related funding round. AI cloud infrastructure startup CoreWeave locked up a $1.1 billion round led by that values the company at $19 billion, The valuation represents an almost threefold increase from the company’s valuation just five months ago, when it was valued at $7 billion following a secondary sale, and a huge jump from its $2 billion valuation in a Series B extension last May. With the latest funding, the company has now raised some $4.6 billion, data.

3. (tied) , $1B, artificial intelligence: Are you sensing a trend this month with big AI rounds? Scale AI raised $1 billion in a round led by that values the data labeling and evaluation startup at a stunning $13.8 billion. The valuation is nearly double the $7.3 billion the San Francisco-based startup hit after a $325 million raise in April 2021. The new financing included some of the biggest names in tech, with , and all investing. Scale AI plays a key role in creating large language models and accurately labeling text, images, video and voice data. The startup also creates and fine-tunes data sets.

3. (tied) , $1B, cybersecurity: Finally, something that is not AI. Cloud security startup Wiz locked up the biggest cybersecurity round of the year thus far as it raised $1 billion at a $12 billion valuation. The round — announced just as the industry’s was getting underway in San Francisco early last month — could be another sign of investors coming back to the cybersecurity space. Cyber startups are coming off their best funding quarter in three quarters, and in late April -backed data security firm had a successful IPO. Wiz’s latest round was co-led by , and . Founded in 2020, Wiz says it has raised $1.9 billion so far. Originally founded in Israel, Wiz has been busy of late. In April, it acquired New York-based cloud detection and response startup . The company says the new cash infusion could be used for more deal-making. Also based in New York, the startup says it achieved $350 million in annual recurring revenue last year. It has .

5. , $475M, autonomous vehicles: showed it is willing to spend big on Boston-based self-driving startup Motional. In May, the carmaker agreed to invest $475 million directly into the startup while also buying 11% of joint venture partner ’s equity stake in the company for another $448 million. Motional, formerly nuTonomy, was in the news just a couple of months ago for securing a bridge loan to extend its runway until another funding round. It seems like this situation bears watching.

6. , $300M, biotech: While AI dominated, biotech also saw some big rounds in May. The biggest in May was from a brand-new company launched by — a unit of private equity giant — along with a sizable $300 million investment. The new startup is a clinical-stage drug development company focused on immunology and inflammation. Uniquity already has FDA acceptance of its Phase 2 investigational new drug application for one of its medicines.

7. , $250M, developer platform: Vercel, a platform that allows companies to develop web applications in the cloud, locked up a $250 million Series E at a valuation of $3.25 billion. The round was led by , with participation from other existing investors including , , Notable Capital (previously ), , , , and 1. The new round is an upround from Vercel’s 2021 raise, when it secured $150 million in a Series D funding at a $2.5 billion valuation led by . The San Francisco-based company allows developers to use an open-source framework to create web applications, and tries to simplify the process to migrate websites to cloud infrastructure to help with accessibility. Vercel has a number of big-name customers such as , and . The company says it recently surpassed $100 million in annualized revenue and more than 1 million monthly active developers. Founded in 2015, the company has raised $568 million, .

8. , $225M, biotech: AltruBio secured a $225 million Series B led by . The San Francisco-based startup is developing therapeutics for the treatment of ulcerative colitis and other immunological diseases. The new cash will be used to support ongoing and planned Phase 2 clinical trials in ulcerative colitis. Founded in 2000, AltruBio has raised nearly $328 million, .

9. (tied) , $200M, biotech: Biotech saw a big spinoff in May, as launched subsidiary BridgeBio Oncology Therapeutics as its own company with $200 million of new funding. The Palo Alto, California-based spinoff aims to grow its oncology portfolio. The financing was co-led by and .

9. (tied) , $200M, analytics: Cloud analytics startup Sigma raised a $200 million Series D co-led by and . Similar to Vercel, it was an upround from the company’s last financing. The San Francisco-based company says the valuation was a 60% increase from its $300 million Series C led by and in 2021 and it was the new valuation was $1.5 billion. Founded in 2014, the company has raised $581 million, .

9. (tied) , $200M, biotech: Waltham, Massachusetts-based Zenas BioPharma raised a $200 million Series C preferred stock round led by ,, and. The biotech firm specializes in inflammation- and immunology-directed therapies and will use the fresh cash to support the ongoing lead product candidate, obexelimab. Founded in 2020, the company has raised $318 million, .

Big global deals

xAI and CoreWeave were the biggest raises of the month, but No. 3 came from the U.K.

• London-based self-driving car startup raised $1.05 billion in a -led round.

Methodology

We tracked the largest rounds in the SA¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½ database that were raised by U.S.-based companies for the month of May 2024. Although most announced rounds are represented in the database, there could be a small time lag as some rounds are reported late in the month.

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