Generative AI has been headlining the tech industry with growing frequency lately. Many of these futuristic innovations are coming out of the Bay Area from large companies and up-and-coming startups. Check out what these businesses are building within the vast realm of artificial intelligence tech. This is the Built In SF Weekly Refresh.
Google launched Bard. The tech giant unveiled the launch of its new conversational chat engine. Bard is a generative AI solution that will compete with the likes of ChatGPT. Bard is currently live to a limited group of test users but will be made available more publicly in the coming weeks. As Google builds out its AI capabilities, search results will also become more detailed and offer various perspectives in response to questions. [Built In]
TripActions rebranded as Navan. Traveltech company TripActions has officially adopted the name Navan. The move coincides with the company’s decision to integrate ChatGPT across its online platform. The added tech will help Navan better determine users’ preferences in airlines, hotel bookings and more. The newly rebranded company is also expanding its team. [The Wall Street Journal]
SF Tech Quote of the Week
“We decided to open source our programming to support HBCU students and recent alums. In doing our research, we recognize that while there were a lot of great point-in-time activities happening on these campuses — like pitch competitions and hackathons and demo days — there really wasn’t that infrastructure needed to support those opportunities and help sustain them.” — Marlon Evans, Nex Cubed CEO
Nex Cubed launched a $40M fund. Nex Cubed wants to help close the U.S. wealth gap by investing in the innovations of startup founders from historically Black colleges and universities, or HBCUs. The company’s new fund, fueled by an initial $5 million from Costco Warehouse, will provide about 80 founders with early-stage capital as well as four months in Nex Cubed’s accelerator program. [Built In SF]
InfluxData raised $81M. Operating a time series data analytics platform, InfluxData helps businesses gather helpful insights from time-stamped data. The company pulled in a $51 million Series E and a $30 million debt facility to accelerate the development and rollout of a new database engine and other product innovations. [Built In SF]
Omneky was featured in the Built In Future 5 series. Working within the booming generative AI space, Omneky is an adtech company helping brands develop personalized ad content. Omneky’s text-to-image capabilities can generate content that aims to resonate well with a brand’s audience based on data analytics. The company has grown substantially since its founding in 2018. [Built In SF]
In more VC funding news: Campbell-based enterprise company Acceldata raised a $50 million Series C from March Capital to further its data observability tech. [Built In SF]
Regie.ai pulled in a $20.8 million Series A round from investors like Khosla Ventures for its generative AI tech that aids with go-to-market content creation. [Built In SF]
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