Venice AI, a privacy-first AI platform, has raised $65 million in Series A funding at a $1 billion valuation, marking its first external investment round. The company, which allows users to access over 200 AI models while preserving their privacy, has seen rapid growth since its launch two years ago. It now serves more than 3 million active users and processes an average of 1.7 million API calls per day, according to CEO Erik Voorhees.
The startup hosts both open-source and closed-source AI models, including those from OpenAI and Anthropic, and ensures user data remains encrypted and unstored on its systems. It also offers end-to-end encryption on some models, though this feature requires a paid subscription. Venice AI is already profitable, with annualized run-rate revenues exceeding $70 million. The round was led by Dragonfly, a crypto-focused venture firm, with participation from Coinbase Ventures and North Island Ventures.
Venice AI’s CEO, Erik Voorhees, emphasized the company’s commitment to user privacy and neutrality, drawing parallels to Bitcoin’s role as a neutral protocol. He stated that the company treats its service as a “neutral tool or a neutral platform,” avoiding any restrictions on AI model outputs. Users can choose from a variety of AI models for text, image, audio, and video generation, with the option to customize AI characters and enjoy an “uncensored” experience.
Source: techcrunch
