AI Image Startup Runway Raises At $3B
New York-based Runway raised $308 million in a new round at about double its valuation from less than two years ago.
The new round — led by General Atlantic — values the AI video startup at more than $3 billion, per reports. In June 2023, the company raised a $141 million extension to its December 2022 $50 million Series C from Google, Nvidia, Salesforce Ventures 1 and others at a reported $1.5 billion valuation.
Other investors in the new round include Nvidia, SoftBank Group, Fidelity Management & Research Co. and Baillie Gifford.
Runway makes software that lets users create videos using text prompts or images. Earlier in the week, Runway unveiled its new AI model, Gen-4, that allows users to create videos with consistent characters and backgrounds.
Last fall, the company signed a deal with production company LionsGate to create a customized video-generation model.
The startup plans to use the fresh cash to develop AI focusing on its film and animation studio. Founded in 2018, it has raised more than $540 million, per Crunchbase.
AI dollars
Big money continues to pour into AI.
Per Crunchbase’s global funding report, AI was the leading sector for venture funding in the first quarter, with $59.6 billion invested. The first quarter marked the strongest quarter for AI funding ever, with an astonishing 53% of global funding going to the AI sector alone.
Of course, that was significantly helped by OpenAI, which raised the largest private round ever, a $40 billion funding that values the company at $300 billion.
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Related reading:
- Q1 Global Startup Funding Posts Strongest Quarter Since Q2 2022 With A Third Going To Massive OpenAI Deal
- Eye On AI: Massive OpenAI Deal Masks AI’s Slow Quarter
- AI Funding Explosion: Inflection AI Nabs $1.3B, Runway and Typeface Also Raise Big
Illustration: Dom Guzman
