Ex-Ramp Engineers Raise $25M for AI Creative Platform Melius
Melius, an AI platform focused on generating ad campaigns, images, and videos, has raised a total of $25 million in funding. The Series A round was led by CRV with $20 million, while General Catalyst contributed to the earlier seed round with $5 million. Founded by former Ramp engineers Joowon Kim, Young Kim, and Arnav Ramu, Melius initially aimed to build an AI-powered performance marketing tool but pivoted after realizing their original idea lacked potential. The startup scrapped its initial product codebase entirely within six months of development and shifted focus toward creating tools for generating creative assets. Nearly a year later, it launched as an “agents lab for creative work.” Despite growing competition in the space—such as Higgsfield, valued at $5.4 billion—the founders believe there is enough demand to support multiple players. Kim emphasized his personal passion for digital media creation since childhood and described Melius as a platform that allows users—from influencers to professionals—to bring their creative ideas to life using plain language.
Topics: advertising technology AI fundraising startups