Startup Writer, operating in the area of generative artificial intelligence, was able to raise investment funds in the amount of $200 million.
It is worth noting that currently, the mentioned startup’s market capitalization is $1.9 billion. Writer intends to use the received investment funds to expand its enterprise-focused generative artificial intelligence platform.
The Series C funding round, in which the startup raised $200 million, was co-led by Premji Invest, Radical Ventures, and ICONIQ Growth. Salesforce Ventures, Adobe Ventures, B Capital, Citi Ventures, IBM Ventures, and Workday Ventures also participated in this round.
Writer chief executive officer May Habib stated that the new investment funds, which increased the total amount of money ever raised by the startup to $326 million, will be used for product development and cementing the company’s leadership in the enterprise generative artificial intelligence category.
Writer was founded in 2020 by May Habib and Waseem AlShikh. Since then, the startup as a kind of functional structure has transformed into a full-stack generative artificial intelligence platform with products that can be customized for various enterprise use cases.
Last year, Writer launched its own family of AI models called Palmyra. These artificial intelligence models are designed to generate text materials. In the current year, the startup presented features that connect business data sources to its AI systems. Also, in this case, clients are given the opportunity to self-host Writer-created models.
In October, the startup released an artificial intelligence model called Palmyra X 004. This model was almost entirely trained on synthetic data. Writer reported that the cost of developing a virtual product that debuted in October was $700,000. It is worth noting that a comparably-sized model from OpenAI is estimated at $4.6 million.
Currently, the startup is focused on artificial intelligence agents that can plan and execute workflows in systems and teams, customizable AI guardrails, and a suite of no-code development tools.
Despite the intense competition in the area of artificial intelligence, Writer has a strong position in the relevant market. Currently, the startup has a customer base of hundreds of companies, including Mars, Ally Bank, Qualcomm, Salesforce, Uber, Accenture, L’Oréal, and Intuit. This list of brands can be described as a Writer’s achievement in a highly competitive environment.
It is worth noting that during the period of active development of machine intelligence, the issue of cybersecurity has become more relevant. Scammers also have access to artificial intelligence technologies, which is why their activities have become more sophisticated. Personal awareness of users is important to counteract these threats. For example, a query in an Internet search engine, such as how to know if my camera is hacked, will allow anyone to get information about signs of unauthorized access to the device. Digital literacy is also a tool to combat cybercrime.
