Runware, a startup established by Romanian entrepreneurs Flaviu Rădulescu and Ioana Hreninciuc, announced last week the completion of a USD 50 million Series A funding round led by Dawn Capital, a prominent European investor in B2B software companies. This funding round also saw participation from Comcast Ventures, Speedinvest, Insight Partners, and a16z Speedrun.
Founded in 2023, Runware has successfully raised a total of USD 66 million to date, serving over 300 million users and generating 10 billion images, videos, and audio files for approximately 200,000 developers, according to Ziarul Financiar. The company aims to revolutionize the generative artificial intelligence landscape by providing API solutions for developers seeking to streamline content generation within their applications.
Rădulescu, currently based in London, has a rich entrepreneurial background that began in the late 1990s with the launch of eLibris, one of Romania’s first online retailers, which was later acquired and rebranded as Dol.ro. He also co-founded Bigstep, a cloud platform, and Lumminary, which specializes in DNA data processing. Hreninciuc, on the other hand, has held key roles in technology companies, including a tenure as CEO of GameAnalytics and Chief Product Officer at Homa Games and Huuuge Games, and is currently based in San Francisco.
The duo, who have collaborated for nearly 15 years, initially met while working at Hostway, a global hosting provider, before joining forces at Bigstep and GameAnalytics. They graduated from the a16z Speedrun program in 2023, further solidifying their credentials in the tech ecosystem.
Runware was launched when Rădulescu identified a critical gap in the generative AI market, noting that existing technology was efficient but often sluggish. The platform enables developers to integrate image, video, and audio generation into their applications via a single API, eliminating the need to build individual infrastructures for each AI model.
“We built our own Sonic Inference Engine, our own GPU infrastructure, our own Inference PODs, and our own optimizations, pushing the limits of what large-scale AI providers can do,” Rădulescu stated on LinkedIn. This self-sustaining model allows for “day-zero” access to AI models, which means clients can employ them immediately upon release.
Runware counts notable clients among its user base, including Freepik, Wix, Together AI, Higgsfield AI, ImagineArt, and NightCafe Studio. Hreninciuc emphasized the impact of their API, stating, “Our API powers image, video, and audio generation for over 300 million end users.”
The competitive landscape for AI inference platforms is fierce, particularly as rivals secure valuations in the billions. However, the founders assert that Runware has achieved substantial growth on a budget significantly smaller than that of its competitors due to its cost-per-generated-image model.
The recent funding will be allocated towards expanding Runware’s infrastructure, with plans to install over 20 Inference PODs in major cities across Europe and the United States by 2026, aiming to reduce latency to below 10 milliseconds. The company envisions becoming “a single API for all artificial intelligence,” with the ability to support over 2 million models.
As Runware looks to broaden its reach, its team, currently composed of around 25 people, is set for expansion, reflecting its ambition to stand at the forefront of the generative AI revolution.
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