There’s an explosion of innovation, with more and more entrepreneurs building their businesses daily. A large part of what’s driving this new wave of entrepreneurship is the emerging technologies enabling these startups.

 A midyear report from Tech Crunch notes that funding for venture-backed startups are at an all-time high. The reports show that this year’s total venture capital funding is expected to eclipse last year’s record high of $117 billion—pointing to at least $120 billion in investments.. A huge portion of these startups leverage technologies including artificial intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), cloud computing, and blockchain. Bloomberg U.S. Startups Barometer, a tracker for the overall health of the business environment for private technology companies in the US, shows a continuously rising trend in the last decade. In fact, the index has risen more than 48% compared to last year—indicating the increasing flow of investments for entrepreneurs.

AI growth

The ubiquity of AI has had the most profound impact on growing entrepreneurship. From automating tasks and maximizing convenience, to predictive analytics and pattern analysis, AI applications and their development are at the center of many startups. Across industries, Business Insider reports that at least 41 startups that leveraged AI have received seed funding of over $1 billion this year. The explosion of use cases can be found in healthcare, transportation, marketing, and education. As enterprise and business tech companies continue to merge and collaborate with numerous AI startups, more entrepreneurs will move to innovate in this space. In fact, even non-tech companies like McDonalds and Nike are acquiring AI startups. (Read more…).