\n
![](\"https:\/\/fortune.com\/img-assets\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Hannah-Seal-e1720607864674.jpg?w=2048\")
<\/p>\n [ad_1]
\n<\/p>\n
Index Ventures has worked with a long list of companies that have become mainstays in the tech world. Think fintech giants Revolut and Wise, public transit app Citymapper and food delivery mainstay Deliveroo.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Now, the London-based venture capital fund has raised $2.3 billion<\/a> from investors to capitalize on the recent surge of AI companies in Europe and beyond, Index announced on Wednesday.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re just beginning to see where AI can make a difference,\u201d Hannah Seal, partner at Index Ventures, told Fortune<\/em> Wednesday. \u201cThat\u2019s why this is so timely because this is the point at which we really see AI, especially in the application layer, starting to come to fruition.\u201d<\/p>\n Seal said she sees new opportunities in industries like healthcare, hospitality, and education, and historically \u201cuninvestable\u201d sectors that have opened up thanks to AI.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The VC firm, which has offices in London, San Francisco, and New York, will dedicate $800 million of the new capital towards its venture funds and $1.5 billion to growth funds.\u00a0<\/p>\n Index is no stranger to investing in AI companies. Last year, it was among French startup Mistral\u2019s backers in a $113 million funding round, which increased Mistral\u2019s valuation to \u20ac240 million ($260 million). Now, it is Europe\u2019s most valuable AI company at \u20ac6 billion ($6.5 billion). Scale AI and Wordsmith are also among Index\u2019s other investments.<\/p>\n To be sure, Index\u2019s funds won\u2019t be devoted only to AI companies, although they will be a big focus.\u00a0<\/p>\n The fresh capital comes just as the VC industry starts to see early signs of recovering from the spigots running dry over the last few years, balancing out the tech investment spree<\/a> during the pandemic. For instance, earlier this year, Andreessen Horowitz, a prominent Silicon Valley VC player, announced $7.2 billion<\/a> in new funding.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe era of the quick buck mentality is over, and there\u2019s a lot of focus on building long-term enduring companies,\u201d Seal said.\u00a0<\/p>\n The world of AI is evolving by the day. Still, \u201cwe\u2019re really at the earliest innings\u201d when it comes to discovering the tech\u2019s true capabilities across different industries, Seal told Fortune<\/em>.<\/p>\n \u201cGoing forward, there\u2019ll be very few sort of AI native companies and non-AI companies,\u201d she said, using the example of mobile companies that feed into the broader technology ecosystem. \u201cAI will permeate every company at some point in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n While we\u2019re still scratching the surface when it comes to AI, Index bases its bets on the founders at the helm of startups.<\/p>\n \u201cWe really need to believe when we are backing founders that they are it for the long run \u2026 [it\u2019s their] life\u2019s mission to do this and solve this problem and build this company. And they\u2019re few and far between,\u201d Seal said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n While Europe has seen some prominent players emerge in the recent generative AI boom, it still needs to catch up<\/a> with the U.S. as fewer companies have achieved the scale that the likes of OpenAI and Anthropic have.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u200b\u200b\u201cOver the last decade of investing in technology startups, I think Europe is catching up,\u201d James Wise, partner at VC firm Balderton Capital, said at Fortune<\/em>\u2019s Brainstorm AI conference<\/a> in April.<\/p>\n \u201cSo it\u2019s still significantly behind in certain areas. But if you look at sort of dollars deployed at almost every stage here, it\u2019s closing the gap with American-based companies.\u201d<\/p>\n But Europe and the U.K. have their strengths when it comes to competing in the fast-moving AI race.\u00a0<\/p>\n Europe has a robust ecosystem of early-stage AI startups, while Britain is already starting to see funds flow to it in the form of big tech investments by Microsoft and Salesforce\u2019s AI hubs<\/a>. Index has invented \u00a31 billion ($1.3 billion) in U.K. tech, having backed 17 unicorns.\u00a0<\/p>\n London, the home of DeepMind, is among the most attractive locations for talent<\/a>, and several European universities<\/a> where AI founders started their careers are the breeding grounds for the next wave of companies.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe think Europe is going to be one of the most important ecosystems for AI,\u201d Seal said, adding that Index is \u201cexcited to double down\u201d on investing in the region.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\nAI\u2019s \u2018earliest innings\u2019\u00a0<\/h2>\n
It\u2019s not about AI talent<\/h2>\n
Subscribe to the Fortune Next to Lead newsletter to get weekly strategies on how to make it to the corner office. Sign up for free<\/a>.<\/div>\n