Observed Signal · Aug 12, 2024 · Funding · Source: Trending Topics · Impact: 2/5 · Sentiment: Positive
Black Forest Labs Raises $31M to Challenge OpenAI and Midjourney
Black Forest Labs, a new AI startup founded by former Stability AI researchers, has raised $31 million from Andreessen Horowitz, General Catalyst, MätchVC and several business angels. The company aims to challenge leading generative AI providers such as OpenAI and Midjourney with text-to-image and text-to-video models. Its first product, image generator Flux.1, is presented as producing particularly realistic human faces and hands, and is claimed to outperform models like Midjourney v6.0, DALL-E 3 and Stable Diffusion SD3-Ultra in benchmarks. The founding team previously worked on Stable Diffusion XL and Stable Video Diffusion. Black Forest Labs has also announced a competitive text-to-video model under the working name SOTA. Despite its European-sounding name, the startup is registered in Wilmington, near Philadelphia, in the United States. Its emergence follows leadership turbulence at Stability AI, including the departure of CEO Emad Mostaque.
Well-funded new entry into the generative AI foundation model race by ex-Stability AI researchers; relevant for AI-driven creative production but not a direct adtech platform or infrastructure shift.
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Key Takeaways & Evidence Grounding
- Black Forest Labs raised $31 million from Andreessen Horowitz, General Catalyst, MätchVC, and several business angels.
- The startup was founded by former Stability AI researchers, including Andreas Blattmann, Axel Sauer, and Dominik Lorenz.
- Black Forest Labs released Flux.1, an AI image generator it claims matches or surpasses Midjourney v6.0, DALL-E 3, and Stable Diffusion SD3-Ultra.
- The company announced plans for a competitive text-to-video model codenamed SOTA.
- Black Forest Labs is registered in Wilmington, near Philadelphia, USA, and is not a German startup despite its name.
Connected Companies & Entities
6 Entities mapped“A team split from Stability AI and is now operating under the name Black Forest Labs....”
“Flux.1 is benchmarked against DALL-E 3 by OpenAI....”
“Flux.1 is benchmarked against Midjourney v6.0....”
“Black Forest Labs received $31 million from Andreessen Horowitz, General Catalyst, MätchVC, and business angels....”
“After internal problems at Stability AI, a research team split off to form Black Forest Labs....”
“Black Forest Labs received $31 million from Andreessen Horowitz, General Catalyst, MätchVC, and business angels....”
Ontology Mapping & Concepts
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