PJC is an early-stage venture capital firm focused on investing in, supporting, and building relationships with entrepreneurs who are creating the future. The firm has invested in over 100 companies across North America including notable companies like Expensify, Nest, BlockFi, GetWell Network and Nexamp. PJC was founded in 2001 and is based in Boston, Massachusetts.

LETA Capital is a venture firm investing in early-stage b2c and b2b software startups. LETA Capital was founded by a successful IT entrepreneur Alexander Chachava, who invested his money and experience. We believe that enthusiastic entrepreneurs can present the world with new values. Our fund aims to support innovative IT startup companies at their seed or early growth stage. In 2018 LETA Capital raised its second $50 mln fund. In 2021 it introduced the third fund and is now in an active investment period till 2024. We aim at long-term cooperation and help talented teams. https://bit.ly/LetaCapitalManifesto

LETA Capital

Bee Partners is a pre-seed deep tech venture firm.  We write Founders their first check and partner on their journey from zero to one.  These founders have the smarts, grit, and humanity to create the machines of tomorrow in AI/ML, Robotics, Automation, Synthetic Biology, and more.   Bee Partners is a collective of builders, designers, entrepreneurs, operators, and technologists with experience across big tech, startups, [research labs] and more.  We share a common goal: to deliver outcomes in the form of customers, ROI and venture-scale returns for our Founders, enterprise partners, and investors.  Our approach has led the portfolio to a 60%+ matriculation rate to Series A. Bee’s portfolio companies realize accelerated growth and have secured over $1.8B in follow-on capital from the world's top VCs.

Bee Partners

iRobot Ventures supports early-stage companies from across the connected hardware ecosystem that are developing technologies and products of strategic interest to iRobot. It invests in applications that are adjacent to its core business or represent new market opportunities, and participate in the early stages of the innovation lifecycle. The firm was founded in 1990 and is headquartered in Bedford, Massachusetts.

iRobot Ventures

Bossa Invest manages investment portfolios and provides asset management services to clients. It analyzes market trends to inform investment decisions. Bossa Invest serves multiple sectors, including finance, technology, and real estate.

Bossa Invest

Founders backing Founders. Swift Ventures is the fund that we wish existed when we were starting out -- a low-ego, sincerely helpful firm led by former founders who get it. With decades of company-building experience, Swift provides relevant and practical “garage-to-IPO” building and scaling expertise.We invest in AI and Automation companies with B2B business models.  Typically, we are looking for companies that have an early compelling product with positive revenue and retention signals.

Swift Ventures

Kubera Venture Capital is an early stage investor investing in AI, Machine Learning, and Data Science powering Digital Transformation.

Kubera Venture Capital

Boom Capital is a pre-seed fund for deeply technical, under-networked founders trying to build their companies. It was incorporated in 2017 and is based in San Francisco, California.

Boom Capital Ventures

468 Capital is an investment firm that focuses on identifying and managing opportunities in various markets. The firm employs a systematic approach to investment analysis and portfolio management. It collaborates with a range of partners to support its investment strategies. The company serves industries including technology, healthcare, and renewable energy.

468 Capital

Sorenson Ventures is a venture capital firm that focuses on accelerating innovations in the software and security sectors. It is comprised of seasoned entrepreneurs, industry executives, and investment veterans.

Sorenson Ventures

Strawberry Creek Ventures is a UC Berkeley alumni venture fund that invests in companies led by UC Berkeley alumni. The company is for-profit and not affiliated with UC Berkeley.

Strawberry Creek Ventures

Synthesis AI

Synthesis AI is a data generation platform for computer vision. Synthesis AI is pioneering synthetic data technology to build more capable AI. The company was founded in 2019 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California.

Synthesis AI is a data generation platform that creates synthetic data or generative labeled data for training ML models. The platform leverages generative AI, procedural generation, and VFX-rendering technologies to generate labeled synthetic images and videos on-demand. It also provides a set of labels, including segmentation maps, 2D/3D landmarks, depth maps, and surface normals. It also offers a <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/17784">prompt-based input and editing feature </a>that allows users to develop text-to-3D synthetic data, with an initial focus on creating digital humans.

The toolkit to build machine learning applications at scale

Machine Learning Infrastructure

Synthesis AI is a San Francisco-based technology company that provides synthetic data solutions for developing advanced computer vision AI models. The company's cloud-based platform combines generative neural networks and cinematic CGI pipelines to programmatically create vast amounts of perfectly-labeled image data. This approach enables faster and more cost-effective development of AI systems compared to traditional methods. Synthesis AI's platform allows customers to generate synthetic image data with labels using AI, procedural generation, and VFX rendering technologies. For example, the company has generated approximately 100,000 "synthetic people" spanning diverse demographics, which can be customized in terms of poses, appearance, and environmental aspects. This capability is particularly useful for companies developing algorithms for facial recognition, driver monitoring, and other human-centered applications. Synthesis AI's technology is used across various industries, including augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), metaverse, smartphone development, and automotive sectors. The company claims its synthetic data offers privacy and fair use advantages, as it is not tied to personally identifiable information and is not copyrighted. As of April 2022, Synthesis AI had delivered over 10 million labeled images to support computer vision companies worldwide.

Synthesis AI Raises a $17 Million Series A To Expand Its Synthetic Data Platform for Computer Vision AI

Synthesis AI raises $17M to generate synthetic data

Imbuing emotion into human-digital interactions

Digital Humans

Synthesis AI Unveils Synthesis Labs, Showcasing Generative AI High-Res Text-to-3D Capabilities

Synthesis AI is a data generation platform that creates synthetic data or generative labeled data for training ML models. The platform leverages generative AI, procedural generation, and VFX-rendering technologies to generate labeled synthetic images and videos on-demand. It also provides a set of labels, including segmentation maps, 2D/3D landmarks, depth maps, and surface normals. It also offers a <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/17784">prompt-based input and editing feature </a>that allows users to develop text-to-3D synthetic data, with an initial focus on creating digital humans.The company provides two products: Synthesis Humans, which creates detailed images and videos of digital humans with annotations for ML models, and Synthesis Scenarios, which creates synthetic data for multi-human ML models across use cases, such as localization and avatar creation. The platform is used in various applications and use cases, such as identity verification, driver monitoring, AR/VR/metaverse, and teleconferencing.Key customers and partnershipsIts notable customers include Amazon, Apple, Google, Sony, Intel, Toyota, Ford, and John Deere.Funding and financialsIn April 2022, the company raised USD 17 million in a Series A funding round led by 468 Capital. The funds were utilized to accelerate research in computer-generated imagery (CGI) and AI focused on neural rendering, mixed training (real and synthetic), and modeling of complex human behavior to expand its platform and increase its team of 20 to 50 by 2022.In addition, it also secured venture funding of USD 168,900 in January 2024.

Datagen provides a self-service synthetic data platform that generates visual synthetic data of humans for computer vision applications. The platform allows users to write their own code to generate labeled synthetic data for faces, full body, and humans in motion in the form of images and videos to test and train AI models while retaining complete control over the data. The data covers a range of computer vision tasks including face landmark detection, face and hair segmentation, facial recognition and identification, full body pose estimation, full body segmentation, and behavior detection.Key customers and partnershipsThe company serves three of the top five global technology companies and Fortune 500 companies across the automotive, smart fitness, AR/VR/metaverse, smart office, and home security industries. Its notable customers include Google, Toyota, NVIDIA, IBM, and Intel.Funding and financialsIn March 2022, the company raised USD 50 million in a Series B funding round led by Scale Venture Partners. The funds were utilized to bolster its position in the market.Datagen reported to have recorded 8x growth in revenue in 2022.

Datagen

Weights &amp; Biases offers a platform that allows users to build models with experiment tracking, data set and model versioning, data visualization, hyperparameter optimization, and model management. The platform enables users to automatically retrain and re-evaluate models and centrally manage all model versions through every lifecycle stage—from development to staging to production. It also helps to visualize comparisons between model versions to evaluate performance and identify regressions before model deployment. It also offers toolkits such as <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/19172">W&amp;B Weave and W&amp;B Production Monitoring </a>to build and monitor data- and ML-powered applications, respectively, through interactive visualizations.The company also offers a <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/17880">suite of tools (W&amp;B Prompts) </a>to support large language model operations (LLMOps). W&amp;B Prompts includes tools and features for experiment tracking, debugging, and collaboration, as well as a one-click method to evaluate and score prompts through the OpenAI Eval’s framework.The company provides the platform through a free tier and under a subscription model for up to USD 50 per user per month.Key customers and partnershipsWeights &amp; Biases served more than 700,000 ML practitioners as of August 2023. Its notable include NVIDIA, Toyota, BMW Group, Samsung, Fujifilm, Truebill, and Clear Capital.The company has <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/18663">partnered with Lambda </a>, a GPU cloud computing provider, to offer its MLOps platform integrated with the infrastructure services of the latter, catering to enterprises dealing with AI and deep-learning workloads.Funding and financialsIn August 2023, the company raised <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/20874">USD 50 million in a strategic investment </a>round at a valuation of USD 1.25 billion, led by Daniel Gross and Nat Friedman. The round also saw participation from Sapphire Ventures, Coatue, Insight Partners, and other investors. The company aimed to utilize the fresh funds to further develop its ML tools, including the launch of W&amp;B Prompts.

Weights & Biases

BentoML offers an open-source platform called Bento Cloud, for the deployment and scaling of AI applications. It is a fully managed platform that handles the complexities of AI infrastructure, providing serverless autoscaling as required during the development and production stages. The platform helps to ship models to production with advanced deployment options including online and shadow A/B testing, while also providing visibility through model performance monitoring. The platform integrates with an organization’s existing data stack and enables users to continuously deploy and improve models in production. The company offers its platform through a combination of subscription and usage-based model.In addition, BentoML also provides the following open-source platforms: 1) Yatai, for model deployment on Kubernetes and 2) bentoctl, for model deployment on any cloud platform.Key customers and partnershipsAs of January 2024, BentoML reported that over 1,000 organizations, comprising more than 3,000 members, use its platform. Its notable customers include Koo, Open Layer, Line, and Naver.The company entered into a strategic partnership with TomTom, a developer of location technology, to help integrate with various models as well as in LLM deployments.Funding and financialsThe company raised <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/19684">USD 9 million in seed funding </a>in June 2023 led by DCM Ventures, with participation from Bow Capital. It aimed to channel the newly acquired funds to enhance its platform and offer developers a range of tools for building, deploying, and scaling AI applications efficiently.

BentoML

Iguazio provides a serverless platform based on its open-source Nuclio framework that helps users to develop, deploy, and manage real-time AI applications without requiring them to manually manage underlying infrastructures such as servers and storage. The platform creates real-time intelligence for applications located at the edge, public cloud, and on-premise data centers and reduces bandwidth constraints by consolidating data into a repository and making it available for applications as required. The platform can ingest and transform data from any source, which is then used to train, evaluate, deploy, and monitor models in production.The company leverages Big Data and ML software such as Apache Spark, TensorFlow, and Kubernetes to manage software containers that enable applications to run across different computing environments.Key customers and partnershipsIguazio serves customers in the financial services, telecommunications, smart mobility, manufacturing, retail, AdTech, gaming, healthcare, energy, and utilities sectors. Notable customers include Samsung, Microsoft, NVIDIA, AWS, Google, and Intel.Funding and financialsIn January 2020, the company raised USD 24 million in a funding round led by INCapital Ventures. The funds were utilized to accelerate its growth, expand its reach into new global markets, grow sales, and facilitate new sales channels that include companies such as Dell Technologies

Iguazio

Cogito Tech provides image and video annotation to generate computer vision training data sets for ML &amp; deep learning (DL). The video annotation solution leverages AI-powered tools to convert video into a sequence of images and generates training data sets for ML-based AI models, including self-driving cars and drones. The AI model understands and derives insights from visual data to detect, identify, classify, and track objects in an image or video. Cogito also provides virtual assistants and chatbots to help users in the process of training ML algorithms. Cogito Tech also provides high-quality, ethically sourced datasets that are compliant and reliable to train ML models.In addition, the company provides services to fine-tune LLMs and GenAI applications through reinforcement learning techniques as well as stress test models through red teaming.Key customers and partnershipsAs of December 2022, the company served more than 150 customers across 25 countries in the retail, medical, automotive, agriculture, robotics, smart cities, security, and manufacturing industries. Notable customers includes Verizon Media, The University of Sydney, National Geographic, Tumblr, and Vimeo.

Cogito Tech

Platforms and frameworks that help developers build and train ML models.

Platforms that deploy and host the trained and tested models in production and integrate them into applications through APIs.

Platforms that generate artificial data that mimics the characteristics of real data, which is then used to train ML models at scale.

Platforms that help monitor and manage ML models in training and deployment to track performance, conduct variance analysis, and optimize performance.

Makers of hardware such as CPUs, GPUs, and other application-specific hardware required to train and run ML workloads.

Integrated solutions that handle the end-to-end processes of developing, training, deploying, and monitoring ML models.

Data exchange providers and platforms that offer data labeling services via manual and/or software methods, which are used as input to train ML models.

Includes companies that provide infrastructure to build AI/ML applications

Provides tools to build, monitor, and deploy GenAI applications

Industry is focused on offering platforms for other businesses to build AI-/ML-powered apps

Synthesis AI is a San Francisco-based technology company that provides synthetic data solutions for developing advanced computer vision AI models. The company's cloud-based platform combines generative neural networks and cinematic CGI pipelines to programmatically create vast amounts of perfectly-labeled image data. This approach enables faster and more cost-effective development of AI systems compared to traditional methods. Synthesis AI's platform allows customers to generate synthetic image data with labels using AI, procedural generation, and VFX rendering technologies. For example, the company has generated approximately 100,000 "synthetic people" spanning diverse demographics, which can be customized in terms of poses, appearance, and environmental aspects. This capability is particularly useful for companies developing algorithms for facial recognition, driver monitoring, and other human-centered applications. Synthesis AI's technology is used across various industries, including augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), metaverse, smartphone development, and automotive sectors. The company claims its synthetic data offers privacy and fair use advantages, as it is not tied to personally identifiable information and is not copyrighted. As of April 2022, Synthesis AI had delivered over 10 million labeled images to support computer vision companies worldwide.
Key customers and partnerships
Synthesis AI serves Fortune 500 technology companies, AR/VR/metaverse developers, automobile manufacturers, teleconferencing firms, and AI companies. The company's customers use its diverse digital humans and accompanying 3D facial and body landmarks to build more realistic and emotive avatars for AR, VR, and metaverse applications. Smartphone and consumer device manufacturers utilize Synthesis AI's synthetic data to optimize camera module performance. Additionally, several customers in the automotive industry employ the company's technology to develop car driver and occupant sensing systems, using synthetic data to determine optimal camera placement and configurations for enhanced performance.

Inworld AI is a developer platform for creating AI-driven virtual characters for gaming, metaverse, and interactive experiences. Founded in July 2021 by Ilya Gelfenbeyn, Michael Ermolenko, and Kylan Gibbs, the company offers a Character Engine that uses advanced AI to build generative characters with personalities, thoughts, memories, and behaviors designed to mimic human interaction. Inworld's no-code studio allows writers, designers, and creators to easily develop AI characters that can be integrated into popular game engines like Unreal and Unity.
The company's technology goes beyond existing large language models and chatbots, orchestrating multiple machine learning models to enable multimodal character expression. Inworld's AI characters can learn, adapt, navigate relationships with emotional intelligence, have memory and recall, and autonomously initiate goals and actions. This allows for more dynamic and immersive experiences compared to traditional scripted non-player characters (NPCs) in games and virtual worlds. As of August 2023, Inworld AI had raised approximately USD 120 million in funding and was valued at over USD 500 million. The company plans to launch an open-source version of its Character Engine to further innovation in the gaming industry.
Key customers and partnerships
Inworld AI has worked with several notable companies and projects to implement its AI character technology. The company has created AI-driven NPC experiences for Team Miaozi (NetEase Games), Niantic 8th Wall, LG UPlus, and Alpine Electronics. Inworld's technology has also been used in community-created mods for popular games like Skyrim, Stardew Valley, and Grand Theft Auto V. In 2022, as part of the Disney Accelerator program, Inworld demonstrated a 'Droid Maker' prototype created in collaboration with ILM Immersive. The company's Character Engine is featured in Unity's AI Marketplace as a Unity Verified Solution, and Inworld has received an Epic MegaGrant from Epic Games. Additionally, Inworld AI has integrated its technology with Unreal Engine's MetaHumans to enhance character creation capabilities.

Inworld AI

Soul Machines, founded in 2016 by Greg Cross and Academy Award winner Mark Sagar, develops hyper-realistic, autonomously animated digital people powered by its proprietary Biological AI technology and Digital Brain. The company's platform enables the creation of AI-driven avatars that can interact with users in real-time through natural language processing and emotional responses. The Digital Brain contains layers of AI-driven reciprocal human systems that simulate the human nervous system, enabling realistic emotional responses and dynamic conversations. Through its Soul Machines Studio platform, users can design and deploy customized digital people that integrate with GPT 3 and four to create engaging AI experiences. As of March 2024, the average conversation length with a Soul Machines Digital Person is 20 minutes. The company offers various subscription plans ranging from a free tier to a USD 2,700 per month professional plan. In September 2023, Julie Kim replaced Greg Cross as CEO, and Mark Sagar departed his role as Chief Scientific Officer in June 2024. The company's headcount reduced from 253 in July 2023 to 70 in July 2024.
Key customers and partnerships
Soul Machines has collaborated with several major organizations including the World Health Organization, Heineken, Walden University, BankABC, and Morningstar. In the entertainment sector, Soul Machines has partnered with celebrities to create digital twins, including basketball player Carmelo Anthony, golf legend Jack Nicklaus, and K-pop star Mark Tuan. In March 2024, the company partnered with Authentic Brands Group to launch Digital Marilyn, an AI-powered version of Marilyn Monroe.

Soul Machines

DeepBrain AI is a deep-learning-based video synthesis company specializing in AI-generated virtual humans. The company's flagship product, AI Studios, enables users to create high-definition videos featuring virtual humans by simply typing a script. DeepBrain AI's technology utilizes real-time artificial intelligence and video synthesis to generate realistic human-like AI avatars, reducing the cost and time of video production while improving digital engagement quality. The platform offers over 100 AI avatars proficient in more than 80 languages and voices, catering to diverse ethnicities and professions.
DeepBrain AI's solutions have applications across various industries, including media, finance, commerce, hospitality, and education. In March 2023, the company launched AI Studios 2.0, integrating ChatGPT for enhanced script generation. This release contributed to a 900% revenue growth for the quarter and a 533% increase in the user base. DeepBrain AI also introduced AI Interview in May 2023, combining generative AI video with OpenAI's large language model to streamline the interview screening process. The company's technology has been utilized in innovative ways, such as creating an AI avatar for a person diagnosed with ALS to help them communicate and stay connected.
As of July 2023, DeepBrain AI reported significant growth, doubling its US team size over the previous year. The company has established partnerships with major technology firms, joining the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Partner Network and becoming part of Lenovo's AI Innovator partner ecosystem. DeepBrain AI's commitment to innovation has been recognized with multiple awards, including the CES Innovation Awards in 2022 and 2023.

DeepBrain AI

Digital Domain is a renowned visual effects company founded in 1993 by film director James Cameron, visual effects pioneer Scott Ross, and make-up effects creator Stan Winston. The company specializes in creating visual effects for feature films, television, and other media. Digital Domain has worked on over 500 films, including blockbusters from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the Dune franchise, and award-winning productions like Titanic and RRR. The company has earned three Academy Awards for Best Visual Effects and has contributed to six of the top 20 highest-grossing films globally.
Digital Domain's technology portfolio includes Masquerade, a facial motion capture system used in films like Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. In April 2024, the company introduced Masquerade3, an advanced markerless facial capture technology that eliminates the need for tracking markers on actors' faces. This innovation aims to streamline production processes, reduce costs, and improve the quality of facial animations.
The company is expanding its focus beyond entertainment, exploring applications of its technology in sectors such as banking, education, elderly services, and tourism. In July 2024, Digital Domain announced plans to invest USUSD 26 million in a new research and development center at Hong Kong Science Park. This facility will concentrate on developing AI-powered virtual humans and advancing AI video production technology.
Despite its technological achievements, Digital Domain has faced financial challenges. After declaring bankruptcy in 2012, the company was acquired by Hong Kong-based Sun Innovation Holdings. In 2023, Digital Domain reported a 23% decline in revenue and a 45% decrease in gross profit compared to the previous year, resulting in its ninth consecutive year of financial losses.

Digital Domain

ObEN is an artificial intelligence company specializing in the creation of Personal AI (PAI) technology. Founded in 2014 and based in Pasadena, California, ObEN develops customized, intelligent digital avatars that can mimic the appearance, voice, and behavior of real individuals. The company's technology allows for the creation of digital likenesses capable of speaking in the user's voice in multiple languages, using only a small sample of speech and image data. These digital personas, known as PAIs, can be utilized in various applications including smartphone apps, augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), gaming, and social networking.
ObEN's full-stack AI technology enables the rapid generation of 3D avatars from 2D selfies, complete with voice conversion capabilities and chatbot features. The company's products allow users and brands to create intelligent digital personas that can be customized to represent any person or character imaginable. ObEN's PAI Studio SaaS platform enables creators, enterprises, and developers to build, manage, and monetize unique interactive experiences using conversational, animated PAIs. This technology facilitates the economical generation of livestream, interactive, or video content.
Key customers and partnerships
ObEN has collaborated with several high-profile clients and partners. In February 2020, the company announced a partnership with Yoshimoto Kogyo, a major Japanese entertainment conglomerate, to bring AI-powered avatar technology to the Japanese market. This collaboration aimed to combine Yoshimoto's entertainment and celebrity IP with ObEN's avatar technology to revolutionize digital interactions between celebrities and fans.
ObEN has also worked with China Central Television (CCTV), creating AI avatars that appeared on the Network Spring Festival Gala in February 2019, which was viewed by nearly 300 million people. ObEN has developed celebrity avatars for Chinese music group SNH48 and formed a joint venture called AI Stars with S.M. Entertainment, Korea's largest entertainment company. This venture aims to connect celebrities with their fans through personalized AI avatars. Additionally, ObEN has worked on projects for investors and clients including SoftBank and NBA stars, demonstrating the wide-ranging applications of its technology across various industries.

ObEN

Digital humans that engage in two-way conversations for customer service and employee training

Digital humans that deliver responsive interactions for virtual events, social media, and entertainment

Interactive digital humans for applications in education, fashion, sports, and others

Digital humans for one-way customer and employee communications, including presentations, training modules, or informational videos, and the like

Digital humans as characters in movies, news reporting, virtual events, and television shows without two-way user interaction

Digital humans as characters for video games without two-way user interaction

Digital humans for applications in fashion, education, sports, and others without two-way user interaction

Companies that use GenAI as a core part of their product offering for digital humans

Several digital humans are integrated with GenAI models

NLP is used by digital humans to understand, process, and generate natural language

AI and ML are used in digital humans to process data and generate responses

Digital humans can be deployed in the metaverse for a variety of purposes, such as virtual customer service, virtual events, and virtual social interactions.

Synthesis AI

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