AI21 Labs Raises $300 Million in Series D Funding
Israeli artificial intelligence startup AI21 Labs Ltd. has secured $300 million in Series D funding from prominent investors, including Google LLC and Nvidia Corp. The company plans to use this capital to expand its large language model offerings and enterprise AI solutions.
The round was initially reported by Business Insider and subsequently confirmed by Calcalist over the weekend. Though the valuation for this round is not disclosed, chances are that the valuation of the company has gone higher from its last value of $1.4 billion. The Series D funding takes the aggregate amount raised by AI21 Labs to $636 million as per information from Tracxn.
Established in 2017, AI21 Labs is an expert in developing innovative natural language processing (NLP) and large language model (LLM) tools with the purpose of augmenting human reasoning and communication. The startup is highly esteemed for its portfolio of models, particularly the Jamba series, which is created to support long-context understanding and enterprise-level usage.
A Hybrid Architecture for Efficient and Scalable NLP
The flagship Jamba family of models leverages a hybrid mixture-of-experts architecture, combining state-space models and transformers to increase both efficiency and scalability. With a remarkable ability to handle context windows of up to 256,000 tokens, Jamba is perfectly suited for complex tasks such as summarization, legal document analysis, and research-driven applications. Additionally, Jamba is open-source under the Apache 2.0 license, broadening its accessibility for developers and enterprises alike.
Also read: Zendo Energy Secures £1.75 Million in Pre-Seed Funding to Revolutionize Data Centre Energy Management
Enterprise Solutions for Developers and Consumers
Aside from its foundational LLMs, AI21 Labs provides a suite of consumer- and enterprise-oriented tools. Wordtune, one of the firm's hit products, assists users in writing and rewriting text with improved clarity, tone, and intent. It also offers summarization and AI-suggested content through browser extensions.
For businesses and developers, the AI21 Studio platform allows for seamless integration of the company's language models into individual applications. The platform allows for flexible deployment options, such as on-premises and virtual private cloud environments, so businesses have complete control over data privacy and compliance requirements.
A Diverse Investor Base for AI21 Labs
While Google and Nvidia are the latest to join AI21’s roster of investors, the company has previously received backing from a wide range of notable investors, including Intel Capital, Walden Catalyst Ventures, and Samsung Next Ventures. Other investors include Pitango Venture Capital, SCB10X, and Comcast Ventures. This diverse group of backers further reinforces AI21’s position as a leader in the rapidly growing AI landscape.
