| Hi, Agen. Thirty years ago, it probably didn’t seem silly to tout your tech company as an “internet company.” Of course, now that usually is, with the internet becoming almost synonymous with tech. Will we view AI the same way in a few years? In today’s edition, we speak with an investor at Index Ventures who predicts that soon AI will “provide a heartbeat for every single piece of software.” Years before ChatGPT brought mainstream attention to AI, Index Ventures was placing bets on artificial intelligence companies ranging from Aurora to Arthur AI. We speak with firm partner Erin Price-Wright about where she sees AI headed and what the firm is investing in. Related Crunchbase Pro list: Index Ventures’ AI Portfolio Companies It’s not just Index that’s chasing the next big thing in artificial intelligence, of course. It seems any startup working on AI — and lately, hardware and infrastructure around AI in particular — gets massive investor interest. Latest case in point: a startup designing a new type of networking chip for AI data centers just raised a $125 million Series B, with Nvidia and a long list of other investors joining in. The new funding is reportedly at 5x the company’s previous valuation. So far this year, just 97 U.S.-based companies have landed a round of $100 million or more at Series A through Series D, per Crunchbase data. Over the prior two years, meanwhile, more than 800 such rounds closed. What does that tell us about the venture market overall? Related Crunchbase Pro list: Supergiant Rounds At Series A Through Series D It’s 2023, and startup investors increasingly want profitability over growth — or better yet, both. So how do you get there? Startup adviser Itay Sagie shares three strategies for SaaS companies to consider as they try to perfect that magic blend. | 
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