Stability AI, an open-source generative AI unicorn based in London, has reportedly secured an initial investment of $80 million. Previously, in 2022, the company raised $101 million in a seed round at a $1 billion valuation.
The investment came from The Greycroft, Coatue Management (which invested in Rippling and CoreWeave), Sound Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners (which recently backed Zepto and CuspAI), O’Shaughnessy Ventures, and renowned operators and tech executives, including Sean Parker, Prem Akkaraju, Eric Schmidt and Robert Nelsen.
This infusion of capital will help accelerate Stability AI’s growth and ability to deliver best-in-class generative AI products into the market for consumer and enterprise use.
New appointees by Stability AI
In addition to this, Stability AI announced the appointment of Prem Akkaraju, an investor and highly experienced media, entertainment, and technology executive, as its CEO. The former CEO of visual effects company Weta Digital will focus on driving Stability AI’s go-forward strategy.
Also, Sean Parker, entrepreneur, philanthropist, and former President of Facebook, joins the Stability AI Board as Executive Chairman. Other board members include Dana Settle, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Greycroft, Colin Bryant, COO, General Partner of Coatue Management, and CEO Prem Akkaraju.
Prem Akkaraju, CEO of Stability AI, said: “Stability AI is the backbone of the visual AI ecosystem. The Company’s world-class team, breakthrough models, and unique developer network attracted me to take on the CEO role. We will continue to release the most cutting-edge open models for the community while meeting the overwhelming demand for AI solutions from large-scale corporations. Additionally, Stability AI is now in an ideal position to spearhead the real convergence of generative AI and studio content.”
Sean Parker, Executive Chairman of Stability AI, said: “Stability AI has made a global impact by creating the leading generative image foundation models and fostering the largest ecosystem of generative AI media creators and developers. Innovation happens at the intersection of art and technology: the company’s world-class research and applied AI teams collaborate with a vibrant community of AI artists, model builders and developers who have ingeniously extended the capabilities of the company’s core models. This investment will enable the creation of even more powerful models and allow the community to continue pushing the boundaries of human creativity.”
AI-driven image generation
Founded by Mohammad Emad Mostaque in 2019, Stability AI develops open-source generative AI models. Its flagship product, Stable Diffusion is very popular for its text-to-image model that can generate high-quality images from simple text prompts.
Stability AI believes that generative AI has the potential to transform many industries from food and beverages to the education sector. It also develops and improves other generative AI models for imaging, text generation, music generation, 3D object creation, coding, and biotech. Its open-source models are available for anyone to use, and the company provides documentation and tutorials to help you get started.
According to the company, Stable Diffusion has been downloaded over 150 million times and has played a key role in creating many online AI-generated images. The company’s most recent release, Stable Diffusion 3, is currently at the top of the download charts with over 2M downloads since it launched earlier this month.
Jim O’Shaughnessy, Retiring Chairman of Stability AI, said: “I’m very impressed by the new leadership team of Sean and Prem and the investor group supporting them. I fully believe in their vision and long history of repeated and extraordinary success. I’m delighted to continue to work alongside the Stability AI team as an investor.”
What do we think about Stability AI?
Revolutionising the generative AI landscape with its open-source models, backed by significant investment and led by experienced executives, the Stability AI is poised to meet the growing demand for AI solutions across various industries. Its commitment to community collaboration and innovation positions it as a leader in AI-driven creativity and technology.
