Melius Raises $25M After Pivoting to AI-Generated Ad Campaigns

Melius, an AI platform for generating ad campaigns, images, and videos, announced $25 million in total funding. The raise includes a $20 million Series A led by CRV and a $5 million seed round led by General Catalyst. The company says it crossed more than $1 million in annualized revenue within two months of coming out of stealth in July.

Melius did not begin as a creative-generation platform. The New York-based company first launched more than a year ago as an AI-powered performance marketing tool built by former Ramp engineers Joowon Kim, Young Kim, and Arnav Ramu. After more than six months, the founders decided the original idea did not “have legs” and shifted away from helping marketers manage and optimize ad spend.

The team redirected Melius toward tools that create the assets and campaigns themselves. Joowon Kim told TechCrunch the company “scrapped the entire codebase” and built a new product described as an “agents lab for creative work.” The positioning puts Melius in the middle of a fast-moving market for AI-generated advertising, images, and video.

Melius faces competitors including Higgsfield, Krea, and Flora AI. TechCrunch notes that Higgsfield was valued at $5.4 billion in August and has reached more than $700 million in annualized revenue. Kim said the number of players is “pretty exciting” because it suggests customers and demand are already in the market.