Runway, a startup focused on developing generative AI models for media production, including models for video generation, has secured $308 million through its Series D funding round.
The funding round was led by General Atlantic and included contributions from Fidelity Management & Research Company, Baillie Gifford, Nvidia, and SoftBank, among others. According to a press release from Runway, the new capital will be directed towards AI research and hiring, as well as the expansion of Runway Studios, the company’s film and animation production division.
To date, Runway has accumulated a total of $536.5 million in funding, as reported by Crunchbase.
In a statement, the company expressed that this development represents a significant step toward their goal of establishing a new media ecosystem with world simulators. The company’s recent advancements are viewed not as mere incremental improvements, but as the foundation for a new media approach—one that is based on AI systems capable of simulating the real world.
Runway offers a variety of AI-powered media tools, including models that generate videos and images. It faces intense competition in the video generation sector from companies like OpenAI and Google. However, Runway has taken measures to set itself apart by signing an agreement with a major Hollywood studio and allocating substantial funds to support films created using AI-generated footage.
This week, Runway introduced Gen-4, a video-generating model that the company asserts can consistently create characters, locations, and objects across scenes, maintain coherent world environments, and regenerate elements from various perspectives and positions within scenes. With innovations such as Gen-4 and its recently launched API for video models, Runway aims to achieve $300 million in annualized revenue this year.
A potential challenge for the company is a lawsuit filed by artists against Runway and other generative AI companies. The artists accuse these companies of training their models on copyrighted artwork without proper authorization. Runway contends that the fair use doctrine provides legal protection for their practices. The outcome of this legal challenge remains uncertain.
Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that Runway raised $300 million in its Series D. The correct amount is $308 million.
