Melius, a New York-based AI platform designed to generate ad campaigns, images, and videos, has secured $25 million in total funding. The round includes a $20 million Series A led by CRV and a $5 million seed round led by General Catalyst, following a significant pivot by its founders, who are former engineers at the fintech company Ramp.
What Happened
Co-founder Joowon Kim, along with co-founders Young Kim and Arnav Ramu, initially launched the company over a year ago with a focus on AI-powered performance marketing tools. However, after more than six months of development, the team determined that their original concept lacked long-term viability. "We scrapped the entire codebase; we burned all of it," Kim stated in an interview with TechCrunch.
The team subsequently shifted its focus to building tools that generate creative assets and campaigns themselves, describing the new product as an "agents lab for creative work." Since coming out of stealth mode in July, the company claims to have achieved more than $1 million in annualized revenue within two months. The pivot addressed a perceived larger opportunity in the creative generation space, moving away from helping marketers optimize ad spend to directly creating the assets used in those ads.
Why It Matters
Melius enters a crowded and rapidly growing market for AI-driven creative tools. Competitors include Higgsfield, which was valued at $5.4 billion in August and reportedly has over $700 million in annualized revenue, as well as other emerging startups like Krea and Flora AI. Despite the intense competition, Kim expressed confidence in the market's capacity, noting that the presence of multiple players indicates strong demand and customer acquisition opportunities.
The funding round highlights investor appetite for startups that can quickly pivot from unsuccessful initial concepts to high-growth areas. Kim’s background as a self-described social media influencer and his early interest in video production influenced the company’s direction toward accessible creative tools. The platform aims to allow users, including seasoned creative directors, to turn ideas into reality using plain language, addressing a specific pain point in digital media production.
The Bottom Line
Melius has raised $25 million to scale its AI creative generation platform after abandoning its initial performance marketing product. The company reports rapid revenue growth since its July launch, positioning itself against established competitors in the AI creative tools sector.