NEA Invests $100M in Fei-Fei Li's New AI Startup, Boosting Valuation to Over $1B

World Labs, a promising startup co-founded by Stanford AI professor Fei-Fei Li, has successfully secured two rounds of financing within two months, according to various reports. The latest round, led by NEA, has elevated the company's valuation to over $1 billion, as confirmed by sources familiar with the funding. This follows a reported $100 million round that caught attention in July.

The new valuation represents a remarkable leap from World Labs' initial financing round in April, where the company was valued at $200 million. Notable early investors include Andreessen Horowitz and the Canadian firm Radical Ventures, where Li serves as a scientific partner, as reported by Reuters in May. Neither Li nor NEA responded to requests for comments.

Founded just four months ago, World Labs highlights the growing trend of investors placing large bets on AI startups led by established AI researchers, despite the uncertainty surrounding their business models.

Fei-Fei Li's ambitious vision for World Labs focuses on the challenging task of developing AI models that can accurately estimate the three-dimensional characteristics of real-world objects and environments. This technology aims to create detailed digital replicas without the extensive data collection typically required.

In a recent TED talk, Li, often referred to as the "Godmother of AI," elaborated on how machines can be trained to achieve human-like "spatial intelligence." She pointed out the scarcity of three-dimensional data available in the world. “Autonomous vehicle companies gather this data by driving thousands of miles, but for many applications—like service robotics—such three-dimensional data simply doesn’t exist. Collecting this information is costly due to the vast array of locations that need to be sampled,” explained one investor familiar with World Labs' mission.

Once realized, the innovations from World Labs could find applications in gaming, robotics, and more. Li, renowned for her groundbreaking work on ImageNet, continues to influence the AI landscape while taking a partial leave from her role as co-director of Stanford’s Human-Centered AI Institute until December 2025.