Jan 8 (Reuters) - Artificial intelligence-focused

Infinite Reality said on Wednesday it has notched a valuation of

$12.25 billion after raising $3 billion in a new funding round,

joining a growing roster of startups riding the AI wave.

Analysts expect companies in the artificial intelligence

market to spearhead tech sector funding in 2025, driven by

increased expectations of exponential growth in the next few

years as uses for generative AI continue to expand.

Founded in 2019, Infinite Reality is leveraging AI and other

new-age immersive technologies to offer a suite of services to

brands and creators that can increase audience engagement and

monetization.

"Put simply, we enable them (customers) to seamlessly

convert their existing 2D website into an immersive space and

add the power of AI to optimize sales," said John Acunto,

co-founder and CEO of Infinite Reality.

The company said it raised the capital from a "private

investor whose portfolio focuses on global technology and real

estate investments".

Infinite's institutional investors include entertainment and

ticketing giant Live Nation, T-Mobile Ventures, RSE

Ventures and Lux Capital, among others.

It has also received backing from celebrity and pop culture

icons including DJ and record producer Steve Aoki, pop band

Imagine Dragons and NBA player Rudy Gobert.

Investor enthusiasm for the AI sector has been unprecedented

since Sam Altman's OpenAI launched ChatGPT in November 2022.

AI companies contributed significantly to the recovery of

U.S. venture capital funding from market lows, with the total

capital raised in 2024 surging nearly 30%, according to data

from Pitchbook.

Anthropic, another AI startup, is nearing a deal to raise an

additional $2 billion that values it at $60 billion, Reuters

reported earlier this week citing sources.

Last month, Databricks also secured a $62 billion valuation

after raising a whopping $10 billion in one of the largest

venture capital funding rounds in history.