Zilliz has successfully raised $113 million over three funding rounds, attracting significant interest from prominent investors. The company is renowned for its vector database technology, which is designed to support enterprise-grade AI applications.
Keep reading to explore the intricacies of Zilliz's fundraising journey and the investors backing this innovative platform.
What Is Zilliz?
Zilliz, headquartered in San Francisco, is a leading vector database company specializing in production-ready AI applications. Founded by the engineers behind Milvus, the world's most popular open-source vector database, Zilliz aims to unlock data insights with AI.
The company offers Zilliz Cloud, a fully-managed vector database service designed for speed, scale, and high performance. With a team of 51-200 employees, Zilliz is dedicated to helping organizations create AI/ML applications and harness the potential of unstructured data.
Operating from multiple locations, including China and remote options, Zilliz continues to grow and innovate in the field of AI and database technology. For more information, visit their official website or explore career opportunities on their Wellfound page.
How Much Funding Has Zilliz Raised?
- Series A
- Amount Raised: $10,000,000
- Date: August 2018
- Motivation Behind the Round: To develop and launch their initial product offerings.
- Series B
- Amount Raised: $43,000,000
- Date: November 2020
- Lead Investors: Hillhouse Capital
- Motivation Behind the Round: To scale the business, expand overseas recruitment, and develop cloud-based products.
- Series B1
- Amount Raised: $60,000,000
- Date: August 2022
- Lead Investors: Prosperity7 Ventures
- Motivation Behind the Round: To capitalize on the growing demand for efficient data processing techniques for AI and establish a new headquarters in San Francisco.
Zilliz has raised a total of $113,000,000 in funding. The current valuation is not disclosed.
Key Investors
- Prosperity7 Ventures
- Details: Prosperity7 Ventures is the venture capital arm of Saudi Aramco, focusing on transformative technologies and innovative business models. The name references the first commercial well to strike oil in Saudi Arabia.
- Investment Focus Areas: Transformative technologies, innovative business models, global startups.
- Notable Investments: Jaka Robotics, Insilico.
- Hillhouse Capital
- Details: Hillhouse Capital is a global investment firm known for its focus on long-term value creation. It has a storied history of investing in high-growth sectors.
- Investment Focus Areas: Technology, healthcare, consumer.
- Notable Investments: Tencent, JD.com, Baidu.
- Temasek's Pavilion Capital
- Details: Pavilion Capital is an investment arm of Temasek Holdings, a Singaporean state-owned investment company. It focuses on growth-stage companies across various sectors.
- Investment Focus Areas: Technology, healthcare, financial services.
- Notable Investments: Alibaba, Meituan.
- 5Y Capital
- Details: 5Y Capital, formerly known as Morningside, is a venture capital firm that invests in early and growth-stage companies. It has a strong presence in the technology sector.
- Investment Focus Areas: Technology, healthcare, early to growth-stage companies.
- Notable Investments: Xiaomi, Meituan-Dianping.
- Yunqi Partners
- Details: Yunqi Partners is a venture capital firm focusing on early-stage investments in technology-driven companies. It has a reputation for identifying promising startups.
- Investment Focus Areas: Technology, innovation, early-stage companies.
- Notable Investments: Xiaohongshu (Little Red Book), Horizon Robotics.
What's Next for Zilliz?
As Zilliz relocates to San Francisco, the company is poised to tap into the burgeoning U.S. market for AI applications. The demand for efficient data processing techniques is growing, particularly for unstructured data, which is becoming increasingly prevalent. This move positions Zilliz to build a cloud platform around Milvus, similar to the success seen by Databricks and Snowflake with structured data.
Future fundraising opportunities appear promising, with high-profile investors like Prosperity7 Ventures and Hillhouse Capital already on board. The potential for additional rounds to support global expansion and further R&D is strong. However, Zilliz will face challenges, including competition from companies like Pinecone and Weaviate, and the need to establish a robust presence in the U.S. market.
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