San Francisco-based artificial intelligence research nonprofit OpenAI has secured $1 billion in funding, according to company database Crunchbase, topping the city’s recent funding headlines. The cash infusion was announced July 23 and financed by Microsoft.
According to its Crunchbase profile, "OpenAI is a nonprofit artificial intelligence (AI) research company, associated with business magnate Elon Musk, that aims to carefully promote and develop friendly AI in such a way as to benefit, rather than harm, humanity as a whole. The organization aims to 'freely collaborate' with other institutions and researchers by making its patents and research open to the public."
The four-year-old startup also raised a $120,000 seed round in 2016.
The round brings total funding raised by San Francisco companies in artificial intelligence over the past 90 days to $2.3 billion, an increase of $1.8 billion from the previous three-month period. The local artificial intelligence industry has produced 209 funding rounds over the past year, yielding a total of $3.7 billion in venture funding.
In other local funding news, software company CircleCI announced a $56 million Series D funding round on July 23, led by Owl Rock Capital Partners.
According to Crunchbase, "CircleCI’s continuous integration and delivery platform helps software teams rapidly release code with confidence by automating the build, test and deploy process. CircleCI offers a modern software development platform that lets teams ramp quickly, scale easily and build confidently every day."
Founded in 2011, the company has raised six previous rounds, including a $31 million Series C round in 2018.
Meanwhile, analytics company Heap raised $55 million in Series C funding, announced on July 23. The round's investors were led by NewView Capital.
From the company's Crunchbase profile: "Heap is a market leader in insight automation infrastructure. Heap automates away the annoying parts of analytics so that companies can focus on making smarter business decisions."
Heap last raised $27 million in Series B funding in 2017.
Also of note, camping marketplace company Hipcamp raised $25 million in Series B funding, announced on July 24 and led by Andreessen Horowitz.
From Crunchbase: "Hipcamp is a mission-driven marketplace where people can list, discover and book campsites and accommodations on private and public land. Whether it’s finding a scenic spot to pitch a tent or planning a nature-filled getaway, Hipcamp is the go-to guide to getting outside. Hipcamp creates new revenue streams for landowners such as farmers, ranchers and vintners, which supports them to conserve their land and keep it wild."
The company previously raised $9.5 million in Series A funding in 2017.
Rounding out the city's recent top local funding events, music streaming company Mixhalo raised $10 million in Series A funding, announced on July 23 and led by Foundry Group.
From Crunchbase: "Mixhalo is a real-time audio platform delivering a high-quality, immersive experience for live events including concerts, conferences, festivals, sporting events and anywhere people gather to hear content."
The company previously raised $3.2 million in convertible note funding in 2018.
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