Wirestock Raises $23 Million to Boost Creative AI Data

In recent years, creative platforms have discovered that they possess a true goldmine of data. This data can be used to develop artificial intelligence models or sold to other AI labs. Wirestock, which previously helped photographers distribute their works on platforms like Shutterstock, has chosen to sell this data.

In 2023, Wirestock pivoted to become a data provider, offering datasets that include images, videos, design elements, as well as game and 3D content to AI labs. The platform boasts over 700,000 artists and designers who perform various data collection tasks, similar to freelancers on platforms like Fiverr.

Mikayel Khachatryan, co-founder and CEO of Wirestock, stated that the company has been transparent about its model shift and has allowed artists to opt out of this data provision activity. In 2022, the platform had over 100,000 photographers. Khachatryan did not specify how many chose to become data providers for AI, only saying that "the majority" did.

"Initially, many of our contracts simply involved selling what we had in stock, like our existing library. But this then transformed into numerous custom requests for content and data, which created new opportunities for creators, and the platform really took off," he said.

Wirestock recently announced that it raised $23 million in a Series A funding round to develop its new data provision business. This round was led by Nava Ventures, with participation from SBVP (co-founded by Sheryl Sandberg), Formula VC, and I2BF Ventures.

Khachatryan indicated that Wirestock currently provides multimodal data to six of the largest foundational model manufacturers, but he did not wish to name them. He noted that the company currently has an annual recurring revenue of $40 million and has so far paid out $15 million to its contributors.

As part of this transition, the startup had to train some of its teams to annotate and label data in detail to make it useful for AI labs. It also had to build sales and corporate teams to present itself to hyperscalers and find ways to acquire more creative assets in areas like 3D modeling.

Wirestock is currently using email marketing and referral programs to attract new contributors. Photographers, videographers, and illustrators can apply to provide data on its website, but they must first complete an unpaid task such as quality verification before being accepted. The company stated that it uses a mix of AI and human reviews to assess all the work on the platform.

The demand for data provision services is currently very high as AI labs strive to improve their models. Companies like Surge, Scale AI, and Mercor have built businesses worth tens of billions seemingly overnight due to the demand for different types of datasets, and a series of new startups such as Micro1, Human Archive, and Human Native AI are also collaborating with leading AI model manufacturers.

Wirestock aims to focus on providing data for models that support creative use cases, such as image and video generation. The company is also exploring other modalities like audio and music.

Freddie Martignetti, founder of Nava Ventures, stated that his fund was looking for an innovative startup in data acquisition and refinement even before learning about Wirestock. "I believe Wirestock has a deep understanding of what foundational models and hyperscalers need in terms of multimodal data to start creating more human-like systems. The cornerstone of our thesis was that multimodal data will become increasingly important, not only for creating images or videos but for models to perform real tasks," Martignetti told TechCrunch.

Wirestock currently employs 60 people and will use this new funding to hire in research, engineering, and product areas. It is also developing enterprise software for AI labs to collaborate on datasets. This funding round brings the total capital raised by the startup to approximately $26 million.