500 Global is a multi-stage venture capital firm with $2.4 billion in assets under management. The firm invests in founders who are building fast-growing technology companies. It focuses on markets where technology, innovation, and capital can generate long-term value and economic growth. 500 Global collaborates with key stakeholders and provides advisory services to governments on fostering entrepreneurial ecosystems to support startups. The firm has invested in over 5,000 founders and more than 2,800 companies across 80+ countries. It has funded over 35 companies valued at more than $1 billion and over 160 companies valued at over $100 million, including those that are private, public, or have exited. The team consists of over 190 members based in more than 25 countries, with experience as entrepreneurs, investors, and operators from leading technology companies.

500 Global

Adobe Fund for Design,a $10m fund that supports emerging companies to build products and services

Adobe Fund for Design

M12 - Microsoft’s venture fund, invests in early-stage enterprise software companies with a focus on AI, cloud infrastructure, cybersecurity, developer tools, vertical SaaS, and Web3/Gaming. Since 2016, M12 has invested in over 100 companies, helping startups accelerate growth with unparalleled access to Microsoft.

M12 - Microsoft's Venture Fund

Square Peg invests in emerging technology companies across the internet economy in Australia, Singapore and Tel Aviv. The fund supports outstanding entrepreneurs solving big problems in a unique and differentiated way. The company is a group of individuals united by a passion for technology and its potential to change the world. It partners with outstanding entrepreneurs that are building online and technology leaders of tomorrow and support them by leveraging their decades of experience building, investing in, and advising technology businesses, from start-up to multi-billion dollar public enterprises. We focus on Australia and New Zealand, South-East Asia, and Israel.

Square Peg Capital

GreatPoint Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm investing between $250k and $20m into Seed, A, and B rounds. The firm was founded in San Francisco, California in 2015.

GreatPoint Ventures

XYZ Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm that supports startups build companies in the fintech and insurtech industries.

XYZ Venture Capital

LottieFiles

LottieFiles is a micro animation design company that features a mobile-based platform that enables designers to share, test, and iterate micro animations. Its software platform specializes in digital art, motion graphics, web design, and app design.

LottieFiles is a platform that provides solutions for creating, editing, and implementing lightweight Lottie animations across websites, apps, and social media. The company's product portfolio includes 1) Lottie Creator, a web-based tool for creating Lottie animations, 2) Lottie Editor for customizing animations, 3) an animation library, and 4) developer tools for previewing, testing, optimization, and integration. The platform offers 400,000+ animations for its users.

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LottieFiles raises Series B

LottieFiles: Download Free lightweight animations for website & apps.

Creating affordable content for the digital age

Content Creation Tools

Supply chain attack compromises LottieFiles npm package with crypto drainer

LottieFiles is a platform that provides solutions for creating, editing, and implementing lightweight Lottie animations across websites, apps, and social media. The company's product portfolio includes 1) Lottie Creator, a web-based tool for creating Lottie animations, 2) Lottie Editor for customizing animations, 3) an animation library, and 4) developer tools for previewing, testing, optimization, and integration. The platform offers 400,000+ animations for its users.As of September 2024, LottieFiles has integrated with Adobe After Effects, Figma, Webflow, Canva, Framer, and WordPress.&nbsp;In February 2021, LottieFiles acquired<a href="https://iconscout.com/blog/iconscout-acquired-by-lottiefiles"> Iconscout</a>, a design asset marketplace, to expand its design portfolio.Key customers and partnershipsAs of September 2024, the company’s notable customers include Google, TikTok, Disney, Uber, Airbnb, Duolingo, BBC, Airbnb, and Netflix.&nbsp;

Sydney-based Canva is an online graphic design platform that allows users without extensive design experience to create designs for social media, marketing materials, presentations, and more. It also provides tools for creating static graphics, presentations, videos, websites, and printed materials.The platform’s free version provides access to over 250,000 templates and a library of fonts, stock photography, illustrations, and graphics. Canva's paid plans offer additional features such as more storage, premium templates, and collaboration tools. In August 2024, Canva introduced&nbsp;<a href="https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240808572035/en/Canva-Unveils-Refreshed-Brand-System-Designed-For-Work">a refreshed brand system</a> signaling its shift in focus to help organizations improve their visual communication, as businesses scale their operations globally.In March 2023, Canva introduced AI-powered tools that enable users to search for design elements, get recommendations for graphics and styles, and access AI-powered design tools such as&nbsp;<a href="https://www.canva.com/magic-design/">Magic Write,</a> Magic Design, Magic Edit, and Beat Sync. The platform also introduced new features such as draw, layouts, styles, layers, and alt text support based on user requests. Previously, the company launched&nbsp;<a href="https://www.computerworld.com/article/1612736/canva-launches-whiteboards-for-graphic-designers-predesign-process.html">“Canva Whiteboards”&nbsp;</a>(August 2022), which allows users to brainstorm and collaborate with colleagues within the platform by integrating with Canva presentations.In July 2024, Canva&nbsp;<a href="https://techcrunch.com/2024/07/29/canva-acquires-leonardo-ai-to-boost-its-generative-ai-efforts/">acquired Leonardo.ai</a>, a provider of GenAI content and research, to expand its AI tools portfolio, and in April 2024, it acquired creative software company&nbsp;<a href="https://www.theverge.com/2024/3/26/24112277/canva-affinity-acquisition-design-software-suite-adobe-rival">Affinity</a> to make professional design tools more accessible. Other notable acquisitions included&nbsp;<a href="https://www.canva.com/newsroom/news/flourish/">Flourish,</a> a data visualization tool (February 2022);<a href="https://www.kaleido.ai/b/kaleido-is-joining-the-canva-family"> Kaleido,</a> a visual AI platform (February 2021); and Zeetings, a presentation platform (April 2018).Key customers and partnershipsAs of September 2024, Canva served various notable companies including Expedia Group, Hubspot, Sony Music, Reddit, and Marriott International, and had over 135 million monthly active users globally.Canva&nbsp;<a href="https://www.canva.com/newsroom/news/getty-ai-partnership/">expanded its partnership</a> with Getty Images in August 2024 to integrate Getty's vast library of stock photos directly into the Canva platform, providing users with access to millions of premium images.&nbsp;

Canva

Grammarly is an AI-powered writing assistant that helps professionals and students communicate effectively across various platforms and devices. Developed by linguists and engineers, Grammarly uses natural language processing and machine learning to provide suggestions for improving grammar, spelling, punctuation, clarity, conciseness, tone, and overall style.&nbsp;The platform’s offerings include a free version with basic writing suggestions and premium and enterprise plans with advanced features like full-sentence rewrites, plagiarism detection, vocabulary enhancements, and brand tone consistency. It also&nbsp;<a href="https://www.grammarly.com/features#:~:text=across%20500%2C000%2B%20apps%20and%20websites">integrates</a> with over 500,000 apps and websites including Gmail, Microsoft Outlook, Google Docs, Microsoft Word, Slack, and Notion.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;In August 2024, Grammarly introduced&nbsp;<a href="https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240814851435/en/Grammarly-Launches-Grammarly-Authorship-to-Enable-Transparency-in-Writing-Assignments-for-the-AI-Age">Grammarly Authorship</a>, a tool enabling users to demonstrate which document parts were human-created, AI-generated, or AI-edited. This feature aimed to address challenges to academic integrity in the AI age.Key customers and partnershipsAs of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.grammarly.com/about">September 2024</a>, Grammarly had served 96% of the Fortune 500 companies, over 70,000 professional teams across various notable companies, including BlackRock, Zoom, Expedia, Salesforce, and Databricks, and over 30 million daily active users globally.Grammarly introduced a Global Channel Partner Program in September 2023 to offer enterprise AI solutions across industries. The program helps businesses provide their customers with Grammarly's AI writing support, including products like Grammarly Business and Grammarly for Education. Partners can benefit from tools such as deal registration, quote management, and enablement programs while offering customers a solution that increases efficiency and quality in written communications.Grammarly&nbsp;<a href="https://news.utexas.edu/2024/05/06/ut-partners-with-grammarly-to-guide-effective-generative-ai-use-in-higher-education/">partnered with</a> the University of Texas at Austin in August 2024 to support the adoption of GenAI within academic settings.

Grammarly

Picsart is a digital content creation platform that offers a suite of AI-powered tools for editing images, text, videos, GIFs, and logos. As of September 2024, the company offers over 300 million editable photos and templates. Picsart's AI capabilities span image generation, upscaling, object removal, background replacement, style transfer, and avatar creation.The company's flagship product,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.technology.org/2023/11/29/picsart-launched-a-new-set-of-ai-content-creation-tools/">Picsart Ignite</a>, introduced in November 2023, comprises over 20 AI tools that enable users to generate visuals, enhance existing content, and streamline creative workflows.&nbsp;In April 2024, the company<a href="https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240418403128/en/Picsart-Makes-Professional-Product-Shots-Simple-with-new-AI-Powered-%E2%80%98Smart-Background%E2%80%99-Feature"> introduced Smart Background,</a> an AI-powered photography studio that understands the subject, suggests custom backgrounds, and adds realistic drop shadows and other contextually-aware elements.&nbsp;The company has also expanded its enterprise offerings by launching API services (such as upscale, effects, photo editing, remove background, and more) and introducing platform integrations for Picsart’s suite of editing tools, including the Photo Editor SDK, Print Editor SDK, and Ads Editor SDK.Additionally, in August 2023, Picsart partnered with&nbsp;<a href="https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230810415582/en/Most-Likely-to-Create-the-Best-Yearbooks-Picsart-and-Walsworth-Partner-to-Bring-the-Internet%E2%80%99s-Favorite-Tools-to-Schools">Walsworth Yearbooks,</a> a yearbook printer, for students to access Picsart's photo editing suite to enhance their yearbook designs.In December 2021, Picsart acquired&nbsp;<a href="https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211202005694/en/Picsart-to-Acquire-Computer-Vision-and-AI-Company-DeepCraft">DeepCraft,</a> an R&amp;D company specializing in computer vision and machine learning, and in July 2020, it acquired&nbsp;<a href="https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200722005090/en/PicsArt-Acquires-Motion-Based-Video-Effects-Company-D%E2%80%99efekt">D'efekt,</a> a company specializing in advanced motion-based video effects, to enhance its suite of visual editing tools.Key customers and partnershipsPicsart primarily caters to the fashion and beauty, real estate, food and drink, interior design, health and wellness, education, and entertainment industries. As of September 2024, its notable customers included CM Media Group, DocuPost, Popsockets, Imgur, and Mediaclip.In June 2024, Picsart announced a partnership with&nbsp;<a href="https://ux-news.com/picsart-and-getty-image-develop-their-own-artificial-intelligence-model/">Getty Images</a> to develop a custom model that would allow users to create images leveraging AI for personal and commercial purposes.

Picsart

Barcelona-based Typeform is a no-code SaaS platform offering conversational forms, quizzes, surveys, and asynchronous video solutions to help companies engage with their customers. Typeform's core product is a web-based platform that enables users to build visually appealing and engaging forms. It offers over 3,000 free templates (as of September 2024), which include customer service requests, quizzes, polls, and order forms to improve customer engagement. The software is designed to display questions one at a time, mimicking a natural conversation flow. Typeform also offers a range of customization options, including various question types, design themes, and logic flows to create personalized user experiences, letting users showcase their brands via the platform’s customizable digital canvas and content tools.The firm also offers&nbsp;<a href="https://www.videoask.com/product">VideoAsk,</a> a tool that enables users to create interactive video-based forms. Users can choose from up to nine answer types (which include net promoter score, appointment scheduling, and payment collection) to create custom experiences as well as AI chatbots that can provide contextual responses to queries.&nbsp;In January 2024, the company launched&nbsp;<a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/typeform-launches-formless-the-ai-powered-form-builder-that-simulates-real-conversations-302037962.html">“Formless,”&nbsp;</a>a form-building tool that leverages generative AI technology from OpenAI. The tool enables users to collect structured data through two-way conversations with forms that ask and respond to questions. As of February 2024, the tool supported responses in over 120 languages.&nbsp;As of September 2024, the platform provided 300+ integrations with third-party platforms such as Slack, HubSpot, and Zapier and enables users to import, analyze, and process their data across tools like Google Forms, Office 365, Excel Online, Google Analytics, and Google Tag Manager.&nbsp;Key customers and partnerships<a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/typeform-launches-formless-the-ai-powered-form-builder-that-simulates-real-conversations-302037962.html">In January 2024,</a> Typeform reported 150,000 paying customers, including enterprise customers such as Intuit, Hermes, Hubspot, Apple, Uber, Nike, Airbnb, and Barry’s.&nbsp;In January 2024, Typeform launched an&nbsp;<a href="https://www.typeform.com/blog/news/typeform-launches-agency-partner-program/">Agency Partner Program</a> to collaborate with creative and digital agencies to expand its reach and provide enhanced services to clients. Its notable partners include HubSpot, Klaviyo, Mailchimp, and Zapier.

Typeform

Ceros is a no-code Saas experiential content creation platform that enables users to incorporate animations, interactions, and multimedia elements into their designs using presets and templates. The company’s product portfolio includes 1) Studio, which facilitates collaboration for real-time previews across devices, version control, and file management; 2) Editor, which creates and edits interactive content, allowing for real-time collaboration, text and media editing, and publishing; and 3) MarkUp, a platform for feedback.In January 2022, Ceros acquired<a href="https://aithority.com/video/ceros-acquires-online-visual-commenting-tool-oroson/"> Oroson,</a> an online visual feedback tool, to provide, review, and resolve comments directly on content. The new features from Oroson are available in MarkUp. Additionally, in October 2021, the company acquired<a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ceros-announces-acquisition-of-design-to-code-platform-avocode-301403665.html"> Avocode,</a> a design-to-code platform to improve the integration of Avocode's Open Design API, streamline the process of bringing design files from one platform to another, and further its mission of removing coding from the creative process.&nbsp;Key customers and partnerships<a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ceros-announces-alison-lange-engel-as-new-ceo-302145220.html">As of May 2024,</a> the company served over 900 enterprise clients including Colliers, Getty, McKesson, McKinsey, Pepsi, and Red Bull. Its platform is used in industries such as tech, healthcare, financial services, real estate, consulting, and entertainment.The company’s notable partners through its partnership program include Highspot, Showpad, Getty Images, Noun Project, Adobe Marketo Engage, HubSpot, and Adobe Analytics.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Ceros

Assists content writers in creating digital written media including blogs, ebooks, magazines, and journals.

Platforms & tools that assist in creating image-based content such as illustrations, diagrams, infographics, photographs, GIFs  and other image-based media

Assists in creating a variety of digital media channels including podcasts, polls, quizzes, and surveys.

Platforms for discovering and purchasing digital content. These platforms typically offer a repository of digital content

Startups providing digital asset management (DAM) services for managing assets together with workflow management tools to collaborate among internal and external team members on content creation

Platforms that provide an all-in-one solution that covers the entire content creation process. Typically also provides consultancy services covering content strategy, design, and analytics.

Platforms & tools that assist in creating video-based content including animations, vlogs, tutorial videos, commericals and other video-based content

For written and visual content creation AI/ML is a core part of the end result

NLP automates the creation of personalized written media content for different use cases

Uses generative AI to automate the creation of personalized content across multiple media formats

<div>
 Animation design platform, LottieFiles, has received strategic investment from Figma Ventures and Webflow Ventures. Other supporters include Adobe Fund for Design, Microsoft Ventures, Automattic, and Square Peg Capital.
 This funding is aimed to aid the company's goal of democratizing motion design. It will also help in minimizing the learning curve for developing, collaborating on, and delivering animations.
</div>

LottieFiles

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