Brief
Melius raises $25 million after pivoting from its first AI marketing tool
The New York‑based AI platform announced a $20 million Series A led by CRV and a $5 million seed round led by General Catalyst.
By Felo News Desk · Published
AI‑driven creative platform Melius announced on Tuesday that it closed a $25 million financing round, including a $20 million Series A led by CRV and a $5 million seed round led by General Catalyst, TechCrunch reported.
The company, founded by former Ramp engineers Joowon Kim, Young Kim and Arnav Ramu, said it generated more than $1 million in annualised revenue within two months of emerging from stealth in July. Kim told TechCrunch that the team abandoned their initial performance‑marketing tool after six months, scrapping the entire codebase because the product “didn’t have legs.”
Instead, Melius pivoted to an “agents lab for creative work,” a platform that creates ad copy, images and videos using AI. The startup positions itself against rivals such as Higgsfield, valued at $5.4 billion, and smaller players Krea and Flora AI. Kim noted that Higgsfield’s $700 million annualised revenue shows a large market that can sustain multiple competitors.
Kim, who also describes himself as a social‑media influencer, said the market’s size and the growing number of players are “pretty exciting” because they indicate strong demand for AI‑generated creative assets.
Key facts
- Melius raised a total of $25 million in funding. (techcrunch.com)
- The round included a $20 million Series A led by CRV. (techcrunch.com)
- Melius generated over $1 million in annualised revenue within two months of launch. (techcrunch.com)
- Founders previously worked as engineers at Ramp. (techcrunch.com)
- The company pivoted from a performance‑marketing tool to an AI creative‑asset platform. (techcrunch.com)
Sources
- [1] techcrunch.com — originally reported as “Ex-Ramp engineers raise $20M for platform Melius after scrapping their first product”
