Wirestock raises $23M to supply creative multi-modal data to AI labs

Source: TechCrunch

Background

In recent years, creative marketplaces and platforms have recognized that they sit on a data goldmine. They can either develop AI models themselves using this data or license it to other AI labs as a revenue source.

Wirestock (wirestock.io) originally helped photographers distribute and sell their work on stock photography services such as Shutterstock.

Pivot to Data Provider

In 2023, Wirestock pivoted to become a data provider, supplying datasets of images, videos, design assets, and gaming/3D content to AI labs. The platform now has more than 700,000 artists and designers who complete various tasks for data collection, similar to freelancers on platforms like Fiverr.

Co‑founder and CEO Mikayel Khachatryan said the shift was communicated transparently, allowing artists to opt out of the data‑supply business. In 2022, Wirestock hosted over 100,000 photographers. Khachatryan did not disclose how many switched to become data providers, only noting that “the majority” did.

“Initially, a lot of our deals were just selling what we had off the shelf, like our existing library. But then it turned into a lot of custom requests for content and data, and that created new opportunities for creators, and the platform just took off,” he explained.

Funding Round

On Thursday, Wirestock announced a $23 million Series A round to expand its data‑supply business. The round was led by Nava Ventures and included participation from SBVP (co‑founded by Sheryl Sandberg), Formula VC, and I2BF Ventures.

The funding brings the startup’s total capital raised to about $26 million.

Business Model & Revenue

• Wirestock currently provides multi‑modal data to six of the largest foundation‑model makers (names undisclosed).
• The company reports an annual run‑rate revenue of $40 million and has paid out $15 million to contributors so far.
• Contributors (photographers, videographers, illustrators) apply via the website, complete an unpaid quality‑check task, and are then accepted.
• A mix of AI and human reviews evaluates all work on the platform.
• Email marketing and referral programs drive new contributor acquisition.

To support the transition, Wirestock retrained teams to annotate and label data in detail, built sales and enterprise teams for pitching hyperscalers, and expanded efforts to acquire creative assets in areas such as 3D modeling.

Market Landscape

Demand for data‑supply services is “sky high” as AI labs race to improve their models. Companies like Surge, Scale AI, and Mercor have built multibillion‑dollar businesses on dataset provision. New startups such as Micro1, Human Archive, and Human Native AI are also partnering with top AI model makers.

Wirestock aims to focus on data for creative use cases—image and video generation—and is exploring additional modalities like audio and music.

Future Plans

• Hire for research, engineering, and product roles (the company currently employs 60 people).
• Build enterprise software that enables AI labs to collaborate on datasets.
• Continue expanding multi‑modal data offerings to meet the growing needs of foundational models.

Freddie Martignetti, founder of Nava Ventures, highlighted the strategic fit:

“I think Wirestock has a deep understanding of what foundational models and hyperscalers need in terms of multi‑modal data to start creating more human‑like systems. The cornerstone of our thesis was that multi‑modal data will be increasingly important, not just to create images or videos, but for models to complete real‑world tasks.”