Key facts
- Melius raised $25 million in funding, including a $20 million Series A led by CRV and $5 million in seed funding from General Catalyst.
- The AI platform generates ad campaigns, images, and videos.
- The company claims to have achieved over $1 million in annualized revenue within two months of launching in July.
- Melius was founded by former engineers from the corporate spending and finance software company Ramp.
- The startup pivoted from an initial AI-powered performance marketing tool to focus on creative asset generation.
Melius, an AI platform designed to generate ad campaigns, images, and videos, announced on Tuesday that it has secured $25 million in total funding. The funding includes a $20 million Series A round led by CRV and a $5 million seed round spearheaded by General Catalyst.
The startup, founded by former engineers from the corporate spending and finance software company Ramp, claims to have achieved over $1 million in annualized revenue within two months of emerging from stealth in July. However, co-founder Joowon Kim acknowledged that the company's initial product, launched over a year ago, did not meet expectations.
Initially conceived as an AI-powered performance marketing tool to help marketers manage and optimize ad spend, the founders decided after six months that the idea lacked potential. They subsequently pivoted to focus on building tools for generating creative assets and campaigns themselves, scrapping the entire original codebase.
Melius now operates as an "agents lab for creative work." The company faces competition from other AI startups in the ad creative space, including Higgsfield, which was valued at $5.4 billion in August and reports over $700 million in annualized revenue. Kim, however, expressed confidence in the market's size, stating that it can support multiple competitors and that there is significant demand.
Kim's passion for digital media creation, stemming from a childhood dream of becoming a YouTuber, inspired the development of Melius. He aims to create a platform that allows users, from seasoned creative directors to everyday individuals, to translate their ideas into reality using plain language.