Sydney's Leonardo.Ai, a Leading Generative AI Art Platform, Secures $31 Million in Funding

Sydney, Australia-based Leonardo.Ai is making waves in the generative AI landscape, recently securing $31 million USD in funding. The AI art production platform caters to both consumer and enterprise users, attracting investments from notable firms such as Blackbird, Side Stage Ventures, Smash Capital, TIRTA Ventures, Gaorong Capital, and Samsung Next.

Founded just last year, Leonardo.Ai has quickly gained traction, amassing seven million users who have collectively generated over 700 million images since December. The company has also launched an enterprise version that includes collaboration tools, private cloud hosting, and access to APIs, enabling companies to build their own technological frameworks using Leonardo.Ai’s production API.

Designed for professionals in creative sectors such as gaming, advertising, fashion, and architecture, Leonardo.Ai allows users to save, edit, and create multiple assets in a consistent style for reuse. Users can also develop and train their own models for image generation. Use cases vary widely, from crafting storyboards for video production to designing mockups for gaming characters. CEO and co-founder J.J. Fiasson’s journey into generative AI began with the launch of Google Deep Dream, leading him to dive deeper into the field during his tenure at Raini Studios, a gaming company.

“We began exploring how generative AI could enhance content creation in 2021,” Fiasson shares. “It was still a nascent field, but our experimentation with various generative tools and communities around open-source technology sparked our innovation.” Initially focused on game asset creation, the team expanded Leonardo.Ai to encompass a broader range of applications. “Recognizing the diverse verticals that our platform can serve, we continue to evolve it to support multiple use cases,” Fiasson notes. “A key part of our future strategy is to enhance the B2B functionality of our platform.”

Leonardo.Ai leverages open-source technologies, learning from synthetic data and Creative Commons resources. Fiasson highlights the platform’s unique value proposition: “Unlike other generative AI art platforms like Adobe Firefly, BlueWillow, and Midjourney, we prioritize user control. Our Live Canvas feature lets users input a text prompt and create a rough sketch, allowing the platform to generate a photorealistic image in real-time based on both inputs. This level of control is vital; without it, users merely create aesthetically pleasing images.”

With the new funding, Leonardo.Ai will ramp up hiring to expand its sales and marketing teams as well as strengthen its engineering department, ensuring continued growth and innovation for its enterprise offerings.