Ex-Ramp Engineers Raise $20M for AI Creative Platform Melius

The landscape of generative AI is evolving at a breakneck pace, and Melius is the latest startup to capture significant investor attention. Founded by Joowon Kim, Young Kim, and Arnav Ramu—all former engineers at the corporate finance unicorn Ramp—the company recently announced a $25 million funding milestone. This includes a $20 million Series A led by CRV and a $5 million seed round led by General Catalyst. The capital injection comes at a pivotal moment for the New York-based startup, which has already demonstrated impressive market traction.

However, the path to this success was not linear. When the founders first launched the company over a year ago, their vision was centered on building an AI-powered performance marketing tool designed to help businesses manage and optimize their ad spend. After six months of development, the team reached a difficult realization: the product lacked the necessary market viability to scale effectively. In a bold move, the founders decided to scrap their entire codebase and pivot toward a new direction.

This pivot led to the creation of an 'agents lab for creative work.' Instead of managing ad spend, Melius now focuses on the generation of creative assets, including images, videos, and full-scale ad campaigns. By shifting their focus to the creative side of marketing, the founders tapped into a much larger opportunity. The platform is designed to allow users—from amateur creators to seasoned creative directors—to translate their ideas into high-quality digital media using simple, plain-language prompts.

The results of this pivot have been immediate. Since coming out of stealth in July, Melius has reported over $1 million in annualized revenue. This rapid growth suggests that the market for AI-generated marketing content is not only vast but also hungry for specialized tools that simplify the creative process. Joowon Kim, who has a long-standing personal interest in digital media creation, views this as the realization of a tool he personally desired for years.

Despite the success, Melius enters a crowded field. Competitors like Higgsfield, which recently reached a $5.4 billion valuation, and smaller players like Krea and Flora AI are all vying for dominance in the generative marketing space. Yet, the founders remain undeterred. Kim argues that the market is sufficiently large to support multiple winners. He views the presence of numerous competitors as a positive indicator of high demand and a clear signal that there are significant opportunities for customer acquisition.

Ultimately, Melius represents the trend of highly skilled engineers applying their technical expertise to the creative economy. By leveraging their background in finance software and their newfound focus on generative AI, the team has successfully transitioned from a failed initial concept to a high-growth venture. As the company continues to scale, its ability to maintain this momentum in a competitive environment will be the true test of its long-term viability.