Runware, a San Francisco, CA-based performance & price-focused AI-as-a-Service provider, has raised $13 million in a seed round.
Investors
The round was led by Insight Partners with participation from previous investors a16z Speedrun, Begin Capital, and Zero Prime.
Insight Partners is a global software investor that partners with high-growth technology, software, and internet startups and scale-ups, driving transformative change in their industries. With over $90 billion in regulatory assets under management, Insight Partners has invested in more than 800 companies worldwide and has seen over 55 portfolio companies go public. Headquartered in New York City, Insight also has offices in London, Tel Aviv, and the Bay Area.
Runware Use of Funds
The funding will be used to expand Runware’s inference engine and API from image and video generation to all-media workflows, including audio, LLMs, and 3D.
About Runware
Runware is a company that provides AI-as-a-Service focused on performance and cost efficiency in AI media generation. Its proprietary Sonic Inference Engine integrates custom-designed hardware and software to achieve fast and economical AI inference. Runware's platform supports image and video generation, with ambitions to expand into audio, large language models, and 3D workflows. Its platform hosts over 400,000 AI models, has generated more than 4 billion visual assets, and supports 100,000+ developers serving 250 million end users worldwide. Founded in 2023 and headquartered in San Francisco, California, customers include Quora, NightCafe, OpenArt, and FocalML.
Funding Details
Company: Runware, Inc.
Raised: $13.0M
Round: Seed
Funding Date: September 2025
Lead Investor: Insight Partners
Additional Investors: a16z Speedrun, Begin Capital, Zero Prime
Company Website: https://runware.ai/
Software Category: AI Media Generation / AI Infrastructure
Source: Erin Nilsson