AI21 Labs, a Tel Aviv-based startup specializing in generative AI products, has successfully closed a $53 million extension to its Series C funding round.
AI21 Labs, a Tel Aviv-based startup specializing in generative AI products, has successfully closed a $53 million extension to its Series C funding round. This latest tranche, which saw participation from new investors Intel Capital and Comcast Ventures, brings AI21’s total funding to an impressive $336 million, maintaining the company’s valuation at $1.4 billion.
Ori Goshen, co-founder, and CEO of AI21 Labs, outlined the company’s plans for the newly acquired funds. The capital injection will be allocated towards product development and expanding the startup’s workforce. Goshen expressed gratitude for the support from investors and highlighted the importance of deep technology expertise in the mass deployment of AI.
AI21 Labs, established in 2017 by Amnon Shashua, co-founder of Mobileye, Ori Goshen, and Yoav Shoham, offers a range of text-generating AI tools. The flagship product, AI21 Studio, is a pay-as-you-go developer platform enabling the creation of custom text-based business applications using AI21’s proprietary text-generating AI models. Additionally, the startup provides access to Wordtune, a multilingual reading and writing AI assistant comparable to Grammarly.
AI21 Labs’ platform supports specific generative AI use cases, including summarization, paraphrasing, and grammar and spelling correction, and offers API access. The startup’s models cover an expanding array of languages, such as Spanish, German, Italian, and Dutch.
In a competitive landscape that includes OpenAI and well-funded startups like Cohere and Anthropic, AI21 Labs distinguishes itself with a claimed “more comprehensive systems approach.” According to Yoav Shoham, the co-CEO, their AI enriches generative AI with knowledge and reasoning in addition to statistical inference, creating a flexible architecture with multiple generative AI modules complemented by discrete knowledge and reasoning modules.
While the debate over differentiation continues, AI21 Labs boasts notable customer momentum, counting several Fortune 100 companies among its clients. Wordtune alone boasts over 10 million users. Strategic partnerships with Dataiku and Amazon, particularly around the launch of Amazon’s Bedrock generative AI dev platform, have contributed to AI21’s increasing mindshare and position as a unique partner for enterprises with specific needs.
Notably, this funding round marks Intel Capital’s second major investment in public generative AI, following Stability AI. Given Intel’s ownership of Mobileye and the long-standing association with Amnon Shashua, it raises questions about whether Intel is feeling the pressure from competitors, particularly Nvidia, to enhance its presence in the rapidly evolving AI landscape.
As AI21 Labs continues its trajectory with substantial funding and strategic partnerships, the company is poised to play a significant role in shaping the future of generative AI.