news 
Runway, best known for its video-generating models, raises $300M
Runway, a startup developing a range of generative AI models for media production, has successfully secured $300 million in a Series D funding round. The impressive investment was led by General Atlantic and also saw participation from Fidelity Management & Research Company, Baillie Gifford, Nvidia, SoftBank, and other prominent investors.
The fresh capital will be utilized to fuel further AI research and hiring efforts at Runway, as well as expansion plans for its Runway Studios film and animation production arm. To date, the company has garnered a staggering $536.5 million in funding according to Crunchbase.
In a press release, Runway emphasized that this milestone marks an important step towards its goal of creating a new media ecosystem built on AI systems that can simulate our world. The company boasts a suite of innovative AI video tools, including video- and image-generating models.
Notably, Runway faces stiff competition in the video generation space from industry giants like OpenAI and Google. However, the startup has managed to differentiate itself by inking deals with major Hollywood studios and earmarking significant funds for films using AI-produced video content.
This week, Runway unveiled Gen-4, a revolutionary video-generating model capable of creating consistent characters, locations, and objects across scenes, maintaining coherent world environments, and regenerating elements from different perspectives and positions within scenes. With products like Gen-4 and its recently launched API for video models, Runway is set to hit $300 million in annualized revenue this year.
It remains to be seen whether the company’s ambitions will not be derailed by a pending lawsuit brought by artists against Runway and other generative AI companies accusing them of training their models on copyrighted artwork without permission. Runway asserts that the doctrine known as fair use shields it from legal repercussions, but the outcome of this case is yet to be determined.
Kyle Wiggers is TechCrunch’s AI Editor.
Source: https://techcrunch.com/2025/04/03/runway-best-known-for-its-video-generating-models-raises-300m/
