AI Startup Roundup: New OpenAI Rival Raises $110M

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Funding News

Mistral AI

Despite being just a month old, Mistral has just raised over $110 million. The Paris-based startup is looking to develop generative AI models.

The startup was founded by alums from Meta and Google DeepMind. CEO Arthur Mensch spent almost three years at DeepMind working as a staff research scientist on large language and multimodal models.

Latest funding: $113 million, seed funding

Lead investor: Lightspeed Venture Partners

Other investors: Index Ventures, Motier Ventures, La Famiglia, First Minute Capital

Angel investors: Rodolphe Saadé - chair of the CMA CGM Group, and Xavier Niel - found of French ISP Free

Funding plans: At just a month old, the funds will likely go towards building out the startup.

Synthesia

Synthesia offers an AI-powered platform that can turn text into business videos in minutes.

The startup’s AI-powered avatars feature in custom videos in over 60 languages. The likes of Google, the BBC and Nike have used its platform to create content.

Latest funding: $90 million, series C

Lead investor: Accel

Other investors: Google Ventures, Ventures, Kleiner Perkins, FirstMark

Angel investors: Olivier Pomel - CEO of Datadog, Amjad Masad - CEO and founder of Replit, Alex Wang - founding partner of Skywood Capital

Funding plans: The startup said the cash will be used to accelerate its research and further build out its collaborative video editing platform.

Sima.ai

San Jose, California-based startup Sima.ai is developing ML chips for applications including drones, satellite imaging and security cameras.

The startup announced that it has moved into production of its silicon, boards and software, just five months after the initial release of its Machine Learning System on a Chip (MLSoC ) silicon.

Latest funding: $13 million, venture round

Investors: VentureTech Alliance

Angel investors: Navin Chaddha - prolific venture capitalist, founder and managing director of the Mayfield Fund

AptEdge

AptEdge has built AnswerGPT, a contextual answer engine designed to help customer service help desk staff. The engine's generative AI capabilities create concise, easy-to-follow answers for frontline support to share with customers.

AnswerGPT can be found in customer service and CRM platforms like Salesforce, ServiceNow and Zendesk

Latest funding: $11 million, seed round

Lead investor: Stage 2 Capital

Other investors: Unusual Ventures, National Grid Partners, Carya Venture Partners, Counterpart Ventures

Funding plans: AptEdge said the cash will be used to support the momentum behind its customer service.