Hive AI Seeks to Raise $200 Million at $4 Billion Valuation

Hive AI, a San Francisco-based software company that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to moderate digital content, is reportedly working to raise $200 million in a funding round, with a valuation of up to $4 billion.

The funding round comes two years after Hive was valued at $2 billion in an earlier round, and while the exact valuation for the new round has yet to be set, it is expected to exceed the 2021 figure, Bloomberg reported Friday (Aug. 11), citing unnamed sources.

The terms of the funding are still being finalized and could yet change, according to the report.

Hive AI did not immediately reply to PYMNTS’ request for comment.

Hive’s content moderation services are used by a range of different companies, including Visa, Netflix and Reddit, helping them to better identify and block unwanted content on their platforms, the report said.

This news follows investor enthusiasm for AI-related start-ups throughout 2021, as more of the technology comes to market, showcasing its potential, per the report. Other notable startups in the AI space that have attracted significant backing include OpenAI, Cohere and Anthropic.

Hive’s 2021 Series D funding round that valued the company at $2 billion raised $85 million and was led by Glynn Capital, with participation from General Catalyst, Tomales Bay Capital, Jericho Capital and Bain & Co.

Hive CEO and Co-founder Kevin Guo said at the time in a press release: “The full potential of enterprise automation goes far beyond the back office. We’ve entered a new era where deep learning models can make human-level intelligence scalable for an increased number of practical and high value automation use cases.”

Several funding rounds have been held for AI-related companies in recent months.

In June, generative AI platform Typeface was valued at $1 billion after raising $165 million. The company’s technology lets companies craft personalized content that matches their brands’ voices.

During the same month, Inflection AI raised $1.3 billion in a funding round led by high-profile tech industry investors. The firm said it will use the funding to continue its work on “a new class of AI” that serves as a “kind and supportive companion.”

Also in June, French startup Mistral AI, which was founded by AI vets from Google and Meta, raised $113 million in seed funding. This was the largest-ever seed round recorded in Europe.