The striking rise of ChatGPT, the chatbot that OpenAI launched in November 2022, along with increased interest in image generators (like DALL-E, Midjourney, and Stable Diffusion), music/sound generators, and code generators, artificial intelligence (“AI”) and generative AI, in particular, has taken the tech world by storm. Not limited to having an impact in Silicon Valley, alone, generative AI – which is a type of AI technology that is trained to produce various types of content, including text, imagery, audio, and synthetic data, in response to user prompts – is bringing with it the potential “to change how everything from the written word to art is created,” as Axios put it not too long ago. It is also raising some interesting and nuanced questions in the legal realm, including in terms of authorship/ownership and infringement.
Against this background (and in light of waning interest in/slowing spending for web3 endeavors), a flurry of funding and acquisition activity is coming to the generative AI space. In addition to tech titans – like Microsoft (which invested $10 billion in ChatGPT developer OpenAI in January 2023) and Google (which backed ChatGPT rival Anthropic with a nearly $400 million investment in February 2023) – pouring money into AI, venture firms have increased their investments in generative AI by 425 percent since 2020 to $2.1 billion, according to Pitchbook’s calculations.
In order to get a handle on what generative AI ventures are garnering the most traction – and funding – and to take the temperature of this space more broadly (and what it means for players in the fashion/retail space), we have compiled a (running) tracker of generative AI-specific funding and M&A. Among the firms on our list are those that focus on using generative AI to compile/analyze environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) data for companies, for instance; those that are looking to bring generative AI to the legal sector; and ones that are angling to deploy solutions to fashion/apparel companies’ complex supply chains using AI …
Feb. 7, 2024 – AI.Fashion Raises $3.6M in Seed Round
AI.Fashion has raised $3.6 million in a Seed funding round led by Neo. The Los Angeles, CA-based leader in AI technology for the fashion industry says that it is “committed to ensuring real humans and creatives remain central in fashion’s AI-driven future via a suite of tools fostering collaboration between models, designers and brands.” AI.Fashion – which was launched in 2023 by experts from Google, Microsoft, and MIT – enables virtual photoshoots, advanced design and image customization and real-time interactions, all enhanced by AI.Fashion’s proprietary technology, “Persona” by AI.Fashion, developed with unique advanced AI technology, is tailored to keep human talent and creativity at the forefront of fashion.
Jan. 30, 2024 – Kore.ai Raises $150M in New Round
Kore.ai has raised $150 million in funding in a round led by FTV Capital, with participation from NVIDIA and existing investors such as Vistara Growth, Sweetwater PE, NextEquity, Nicola, and Beedie. The new funding will be used to accelerate Orland, Florida-based Kore.ai’s market expansion and continuous innovation in AI to deliver tangible business and human value at scale. Raj Koneru, founder and CEO of Kore.ai, which touts itself as “a leader in enterprise conversational and generative AI platform technology,” counts major brands, such as AT&T, Cigna, Coca-Cola, Airbus and Roche, as clients.
Jan. 26, 2024 – Legalyze.ai Raises $100K in Angel Round
Legalyze.ai has raised $100,000 in an Angel round from Bethesda, Maryland-based venture capital firm Payment Ventures. The rising AI startup, which specializes in AI-powered solutions for legal workflows, including GenAI and AI document review, says that it is “poised to revolutionize how legal professionals handle casework.” Legalyze.ai CEO Chris Ford says the “new funding will propel us forward, enhancing our platform’s features and extending our reach in the legal tech market.”
Jan. 23, 2024 – Bloomreach Acquires Radiance Commerce
E-commerce personalization platform provider Bloomreach has acquired Radiance Commerce, “a revolutionary, enterprise-grade conversational commerce platform powered by the latest in generative AI.” The parties said in a statement that “using large language models, Radiance guides customers on their shopping journey through expertise-based selling, product search, recommendations, and exploration.” aj De Datta, the co-founder and CEO of Bloomreach, said, “Bloomreach is fully invested in an AI-driven future for e-commerce, and Radiance Commerce is critical in helping us bring that future to life,” said Raj De Datta, co-founder and CEO, Bloomreach. “We have the most robust commerce dataset out there and commerce-specific AI connected to every channel in the shopping journey. Now, we take that unmatched foothold in e-commerce a step further, advancing our conversational capabilities and moving even faster to make Bloomreach Clarity available to businesses around the world.”
Jan. 19, 2024 – Artisse AI Raises $6.7M in Seed Round
Artisse AI has raised $6.7 million in a Seed round led by The London Fund. The New York-based company, which touts itself as a “pioneering force in human-centric AI image technology,” says the funding comes “as it further accelerates the business on its mission towards reshaping the photography industry and the future of digital creativity.” Founded in 2023, Artisse provides AI and blockchain technologies for industries, enabling individuals to “create personalized photos instantly, to choose settings, postures, clothing, hairstyles, and facial expressions to generate outputs in a matter of minutes,” and providing “business solutions across numerous sectors such as advertising, modeling, lifestyle, tourism, and intellectual property.”
Jan. 19, 2024 – Recraft Raises $12M in Series A
Recraft has raised $12 million in a Series A round led by Khosla Ventures and former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman with participation from RTP Global, Abstract VC, Basis Set Ventures, Elad Gil, Zhenya Loginov, Dharmesh Shah, and Akshay Kothari. The London-based AI-powered tools provider will use the new funds for an R&D drive that includes developing its own generative AI foundation model to create assets like images or video from text prompts. Redraft founder and CEO Anna Veronika Dorogush said, “I truly believe that AI has the ability to reshape design and influence the way that we look at the world. Recraft was created to meet the requirements of professional design, generating consistent style images and high-quality vector illustrations suitable for everything from advertising and digital marketing assets to iconography. And the development of our Foundation Model will enable us to improve the quality and consistency of the AI-generated graphic design.”
This is a short (and incomplete) excerpt from a data set that is published exclusively for TFL Enterprise subscribers. For access to our up-to-date generative AI investment and M&A tracker, inquire today about how to sign up for an Enterprise subscription.
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