Highlights:

  • The users can train their own AI models on a set of images, making it easier for the users to employ AI to swiftly provide images that match the expectations from the text prompts, more easily.
  • The fresh financing will help the company generate 2X the content creation tools and make multimedia production better accessible.

To continue developing the next generation of AI tools for art, Runway AI Inc., one of the two businesses that created the artificial intelligence art generator Stable Diffusion; recently revealed that it had raised USD 50 million in new capital funding round led by Felicis.

According to Forbes, the Series C fundraising included the new investor Madrona and previous investors Amplify Partners, Coatue, Compound and Lux Capital, raising the startup’s worth to USD 500 million.

This investment follows the rising popularity of AI chatbots like ChatGPT and text-to-image generators like OpenAI’s Dall-E 2, which can take colorful descriptions from the text and produce bright, surreal and out-of-the-box graphics.

Runway partnered with Stability AI, another well-known business for its work on the AI text-to-image generator and provided the underlying research for Stable Diffusion. Since its public release in September, more than 10 million users have utilized the open-source AI model, Stable Diffusion.

These AI tools, especially picture generators, have attracted the attention of both users and artists. The technology that powers them has practical applications beyond merely the quick generation of visuals from a few words.

Runway was established in 2018 and has since released a collection of over 30 AI tools for home users and business users, including text-to-image, image-to-image, replace the background, green screen, erase-and-replace and more that can work on still photos or videos.

A full-featured video editor from Runway with capabilities like faultless video effects, formatting and color correction is enabled by AI and offers basic to intermediate post-processing in a browser.

The business also gives customers the option to train their own AI models on a set of images, making it simpler for users to get the AI to quickly produce images that correspond to their expectations from text prompts.

Cristóbal Valenzuela, the Runway’s Co-founder and Chief executive, said, “As content needs continue to skyrocket, creators will become overwhelmed by the volume of rote tasks their jobs require. Runway is pushing the boundaries of creativity and enabling creators to meet these demands and enhance their craft.”

Meanwhile, Runway’s solutions can help businesses make use of AI advancements to save time and money on multimedia production, according to Valenzuela.

Even while the startup primarily serves individuals, it also serves a variety of businesses, such as CBS’ “Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” and its tools were utilized to create video effects for the film “Everything Everywhere All at Once.”

Aydin Senkut, the Founder and Managing Partner at Felicis, said, “Powered by proprietary, cutting-edge AI research, Runway empowers individuals and leading creative teams all over the world to create multimedia content in magical ways and collaborate over a browser in 4K definition.”

The business plans to expand its content creation tool capabilities and increase the accessibility of multimedia production with the new capital.

With the funding, the company will hire more engineers and researchers and enhance its generative AI capabilities, particularly in audio-visual applications.

The business is also attempting to establish an in-house creative agency unit.