Walden Catalyst has announced that it has invested $20 million in Israeli deep tech company AI21 Labs. Founded by Israeli serial entrepreneurs Prof. Amnon Shashua, Prof. Yoav Shoham, and Uri Goshen, A121 Labs has developed Wordtune, which was launched about a year ago and already used by almost million users.
AI21 Labs' R&D team develops comprehensive language models- a computerized array that, through machine learning, can create clear text based on the words provided to it. One of the models developed by the company is Jurrasic-1, which uses more data than other models, including 250,000 syllables and words and 178 billion computational parameters.
The company had raised $ 34.5 million prior to the $20 million from the Walden Catalyst Fund with founders Shashua and Shoham, participating in all the investment rounds.
Shashua said, "AI21 Labs seeks to intelligently develop a broad machine based on innovative technology that is in the process of maturing. Jurrasic-1, the language model we launched for open use about a year ago, is growing rapidly and is already serving as a platform for developers around the world. The new investment and partnership with Walden Catalyst will contribute significantly to the accelerated growth of the company."
The investment in A121 Labs is one of six deep technology investments by Walden Catalyst's newly closed $550 million deep technology fund, which will be invested in data and AI companies in the US, Europe and Israel. Investors in the fund include leading institutions Silver Lake, GIC, Temasek, and Softbank, and the CEOs of some of the world's largest tech corporations, who decided to invest personally.
Experienced venture capitalist Roni Hefetz will lead the fund's activities in Israel.
Walden Catalyst has also invested in Israeli big data analytics company Speedata, which has raised $70 million to date.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on November 1, 2021.
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