Visual gen AI platform Bria has announced a $40 million funding round and plans to expand its rightsholder-attribution model to the music world. Photo Credit: Steve Johnson
Visual gen AI platform Bria, which says it’s “built on 100% licensed data,” has announced a $40 million Series B.
The enterprise-focused AI company disclosed the raise today, after unveiling a $24 million Series A about 13 months back. Tel Aviv-based Red Dot Capital led the newer round, which drew additional support from Luxembourg’s Maor Investments, SeatGeek stakeholder Entrée Capital, Palo Alto’s GFT Ventures, Overwolf backer Intel Capital, and IN Venture.
As things stand, Bria operates chiefly on the image-generation side, including, of course, with several text-to-image models. Also part of the business’s offerings are generative products tailored for brands and developers, a variety of editing tools, and AI-powered marketing options.
More noteworthy than these AI resources is Bria’s approach to training and rightsholder compensation. Through what’s dubbed the “Multi-Modal Attribution Engine,” the startup is said to track the training materials incorporated into each of its outputs, compensating the appropriate “creators” accordingly.
On this front, Bria’s 30 “data partners” and counting include Getty Images and Freepix, to name a couple.
Stated bluntly, that’s a stark contrast to the approach employed by certain gen AI giants – including in the music world, where training-related compensation continues to allude rightsholders in many instances. And it’s especially interesting given Bria’s apparent plans to bring the “patented” attribution model “to music, video, and text generation.”
(Some music-specific gen AIs say they’ve not trained on protected materials at all – though even that assurance doesn’t mean their outputs’ commercial impact is positive for proper artists or the wider industry.)
Time will reveal the buildout’s schedule, adoption specifics, and ability to unlock new rightsholder revenue, but Bria founder and head Yair Adato emphasized his vision for the attribution expansion in particular.
“While our patented attribution technology has instilled trust in AI systems,” Adato said in part, “facilitating responsible, controlled access to coveted IP content will change the game. … By broadening our attribution offering to all types of content, including music, video, and text, we are helping to usher in a truly sustainable creative economy.”
Earlier in March, Sony Music led AI licensing and monetization startup Vermillio’s $16 million Series A, after another rights startup, Musical AI, scored a $1.5 million pre-seed round in February.
Plus, 2024 saw Universal Music strike a deal with ProRata, which says its technology enables gen AI platforms to “accurately attribute and share revenues on a per-use basis with content owners.”
Content shared from www.digitalmusicnews.com.