Melius Raises $25M for AI Ad Platform After Scrapping First Product

Melius, an AI platform for generating ad campaigns, images and videos, said Tuesday it raised $25 million total, comprising a $20 million Series A led by CRV and a $5 million seed round led by General Catalyst. The New York-based startup claims more than $1 million in annualized revenue within two months of exiting stealth in July. Co-founder Joowon Kim said the company initially built an AI performance marketing tool but scrapped the entire codebase after six months when the idea "didn't have legs," pivoting to generative creative tools it calls an "agents lab for creative work." Kim, who founded Melius with fellow former Ramp engineers Young Kim and Arnav Ramu, dismissed competition from Higgsfield, valued at $5.4 billion in August with over $700 million in annualized revenue, along with Krea and Flora AI, saying the market is large enough to support multiple players.