Runway Secures $308 Million in Funding, Advancing AI-Powered Video Generation

Runway, best known for its video-generating AI models, raises $308M | TechCrunch

Runway, a startup developing a range of generative AI models for media production, including video-generating models, has raised $308 million in a Series D funding round. General Atlantic led the round, which had participation from Fidelity Management & Research Company, Baillie Gifford, Nvidia, SoftBank, and others. The fresh capital will be put toward AI research and hiring, Runway said in a press release, as well as toward expanding Runway's Runway Studios film and animation production arm. To date, Runway has raised $536.5 million, according to Crunchbase. "Today marks an important milestone as Runway announces a significant next step towards our goal of creating a new media ecosystem with world simulators," the company wrote in the press release. "[Our recent] advancements aren't merely incremental improvements; they form the foundation for an entirely new approach to media -- an ecosystem built on AI systems that can simulate our world." Runway offers a suite of AI media tools, including video- and image-generating models. It faces stiff competition in the video generation space, including from OpenAI and Google. But the company has fought to differentiate itself, inking a deal with a major Hollywood studio and earmarking millions of dollars to fund films using AI-produced footage. This week, Runway released Gen-4, a video-generating model that the company claims can create consistent characters, locations, and objects across scenes, maintain "coherent world environments," and regenerate elements from different perspectives and positions within scenes. With products like Gen-4 and its recently launched API for video models, Runway hopes to hit $300 million in annualized revenue this year. One possible roadblock is a lawsuit brought by artists against Runway and other generative AI companies that accuses the defendants of training their models on copyrighted artwork without permission. Runway argues that the doctrine known as fair use shields it from legal repercussions. It isn't yet clear whether the company will prevail.

AI Video Startup Runway Valued at $3 Billion in Funding Round

Runway AI Inc. has raised $308 million in a new round of funding that more than doubles the company's valuation -- a sign of investor enthusiasm for startups building artificial intelligence software that can generate videos. The deal, which is set to be announced Thursday, pushes Runway's value to just over $3 billion, according to people familiar with the matter who asked not to be named because the information is private. Private equity firm General Atlantic led the round, which closed late last year. Other investors included SoftBank Group Corp. and Nvidia Corp.

AI video maker Runway raises $308 million in General Atlantic-led funding round

April 3 (Reuters) - AI video startup Runway said on Thursday it had raised $308 million in a new funding round, led by private equity firm General Atlantic, to expand its new media ecosystem. The latest funding round valued the New York-based company at over $3 billion, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Runway, however, declined to comment in reference to the valuation. With the latest fundraise, the startup plans to develop AI research for new media focusing on its AI film and animation studio using world simulators. A world model is an AI system that builds an internal representation of an environment, and uses it to simulate future events within that environment. The round also saw participation from SoftBank Group (9984.T), opens new tab, Nvidia (NVDA.O), opens new tab, Fidelity Management & Research Company and Baillie Gifford. Runway, which offers software that allows users to create videos by using text prompts or images, signed a deal with Lionsgate last September to create a customized video generation model to help "filmmakers, directors and other creative talent augment their work". Reporting by Kritika Lamba in Bengaluru; Editing by Vijay Kishore Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab Suggested Topics:Artificial Intelligence

AI Image Startup Runway Raises At $3B

Other investors in the new round include Nvidia, SoftBank Group, Fidelity Management & Research Co. and Baillie Gifford. Runway makes software that lets users create videos using text prompts or images. Earlier in the week, Runway unveiled its new AI model, Gen-4, that allows users to create videos with consistent characters and backgrounds. Last fall, the company signed a deal with production company LionsGate to create a customized video-generation model. The startup plans to use the fresh cash to develop AI focusing on its film and animation studio. Founded in 2018, it has raised more than $540 million, per Crunchbase. Big money continues to pour into AI. Per Crunchbase's global funding report, AI was the leading sector for venture funding in the first quarter, with $59.6 billion invested. The first quarter marked the strongest quarter for AI funding ever, with an astonishing 53% of global funding going to the AI sector alone.

AI video generation startup Runway raises $308M round backed by Nvidia - SiliconANGLE

AI video generation startup Runway raises $308M round backed by Nvidia Runway AI Inc. today announced that it has closed a $308 million funding round led by General Atlantic. The growth equity firm was joined by several other investors including Fidelity, Baillie Gifford, SoftBank Group Corp. and Nvidia Corp. The chipmaker also backed Runway's previous $141 million funding round in 2023. Bloomberg reported that the artificial intelligence startup is now worth more than $3 billion. Runway's latest raise is not unexpected. Word of the Series D investment first emerged last July, when The Information reported that Runway was in talks with General Atlantic about new funding. The investment comes a day after Runway debuted Gen-4, its newest video generation model. The algorithm allows users to create clips up to ten seconds in length by providing a reference image and natural language instructions. It doubles as an image generation tool. Compared with Runway's previous video generator, Gen-4 is significantly better at keeping the look of objects consistent across a video's frames. It can maintain consistency even if the object's background changes. Runway stated today that the new funding will support its AI development efforts. A job opening on the company's website hints that the engineering push will focus on enhancing its AI training datasets. According to the posting, Runway is hiring for a machine learning director who can "establish and oversee data partnerships to obtain high-quality datasets for our AI models." In addition to sourcing training data from external partners, the company may be planning to create datasets in-house. Runway currently has openings for a screenwriter, a visual effects artist and an animator. An in-house creative team would enable the company to create custom video datasets for its AI training projects. Another job posting, for an engineering manager, hints that Runway's development roadmap will prioritize diffusion models and large language models. Neural networks of the former variety are the go-to choice for video generation tasks. They generate clips by creating a video that contains noise and then gradually replacing the noise with the visuals requested by the user. LLMs, the other apparent focus of Runway's development roadmap, can't generate videos. However, the Transformer architecture on which most LLMs are based can be used to enhance diffusion models. Replacing some of a diffusion model's components with a Transformer module speeds up training in some cases.

AI Startup Runway Attains $3 B Valuation Following $308 M Funding Round

Last year, Runway partnered with Lionsgate to develop a custom AI model trained on the studio's film and TV library. New York-based startup Runway has raised $308 million in new funding, pushing its valuation to approximately $3 billion. The investment will support the expansion of its film and animation studio. The Series D round was led by General Atlantic, with participation from major backers, including Fidelity, Baillie Gifford, NVIDIA, SoftBank, and others. This brings the startup's total funding to $545 million. Runway's previous valuation stood at $1.5 billion. Founded in 2018, Runway focuses on generative AI tools for video and media production. "Runway begins its next chapter. With Gen-4 and other upcoming updates in our roadmap, it's clear that we are entering a completely new media ecosystem," said Runway CEO Cristóbal Valenzuela on X on the recent fundraise. "We believe AI can become a reliable world simulator, and when you can simulate anything and everything, the media and the stories we create and consume will be forever changed." Runway recently released Gen-4, a new AI video model that generates footage from a single reference image. It delivers sharper fidelity, more realistic motion, and stronger prompt adherence than Gen-3 Alpha. Gen-4 introduces world consistency, enabling persistent environments, characters, and objects across scenes -- ideal for long-form content with continuity. Users can direct subjects, regenerate elements from multiple angles, and lock in a consistent visual style. Last year, Runway partnered with Lionsgate to develop a custom AI model trained on the studio's film and TV library, aimed at reducing production costs. This collaboration set a new standard in the entertainment industry and positioned Runway ahead of competitors like OpenAI's Sora. In December last year, OpenAI launched its most-awaited video-generation model, Sora, which, according to the company, is a calculated step toward achieving artificial general intelligence (AGI). Runway also hosts its AI Film Festival. Similar to the one in Cannes, it is an effort to celebrate artists who use emerging AI technologies in their short films. Started three years ago, the festival is a bid to open dialogue on the inevitable role of AI tools in the film community and engage with creators from all backgrounds to understand their perspectives.

Runway Raises $308 Million to Speed Filmmaking With AI | PYMNTS.com

Video AI firm Runway has reportedly been valued at $3 billion after raising $308 million. The deal is set to be announced Thursday (April 3), Bloomberg News reported, citing sources familiar with the matter. The report noted that Runway set off a frenzy around artificial intelligence (AI) video generators in 2023 after it debuted a model that could produce -- in Bloomberg's words -- "slightly choppy-looking" developed from prompts like "drone footage of a desert landscape." Runway co-founder/CEO Cris Valenzuela told Bloomberg that the company plans to use the funding to boost its research into AI models and add to its creative team, hiring filmmakers, screenwriters, producers and editors who would create films with Runway's software. He added that as Runway's software improves, it will become more and more possible to employ it to accelerate the filmmaking process. "Films, in my opinion, should work in shorter timelines," Valenzuela said, adding that the goal is to allow creatives to work at a pace similar to that of Saturday Night Live. "If you have a good story, you can probably go from Monday to Saturday and make it like SNL does." The new funding round follows reports from last year that Runway was looking to raise $450 million at a valuation of $4 billion. In related news, PYMNTS earlier this week examined the resurgence of Getty Images -- known for its high-quality photography, illustrations and stock images -- amid the mass adoption of AI image generation. The company has embraced generative AI; it's in the middle of acquiring its largest competitor, Shutterstock, in a $3.7 billion deal, and in the process is working on a strategy to position it well for a generative AI future. Grant Farhall, Getty's chief product officer, told PYMNTS that the company's competitive strength comes its library of licensed images at a time when companies are avoiding content that infringes on a creator's copyright. Getty contends that trust -- bolstered by decades of content curation -- sets it apart, as customers are less concerned with flashy AI tools and more with what will allow them to create faster and smarter content without running into legal troubles. "Customers are using our tool largely because of the fact that it's commercially safe," Farhall said. "That's one of the main reasons why customers have been hesitant to use these [image generation] tools. ... The number one hesitation is around the legal risks and the brand risks."