Genspark, an artificial intelligence (AI) search startup founded by former Baidu executives, has raised $60 million in a large seed funding round to challenge Google’s dominance in the search market.
The funding was led by Singapore-based fund Lanchi Ventures, valuing the startup, which currently has no revenue, at $260 million. Lanchi Ventures rebranded from BlueRun Ventures China last year to move away from its Silicon Valley roots.
Based in Palo Alto, California, Genspark claims its search engine uses various AI models to index and summarize information. It stands out by using multiple specialized AI agents to create new, customized pages for every search, aiming to provide useful results on a single page.
Eric Jing, Genspark’s CEO, previously led Baidu’s AI-powered smartphone and smart speaker unit Xiaodu until last October. The team of 20 people is split between Palo Alto and Singapore, with plans to open a new office in Seattle.
Focusing on the U.S. market, Genspark is currently free to use but may explore paid subscriptions in the future. It uses a range of large language models, including open-source ones like Meta’s Llama and OpenAI’s GPT models.
Genspark’s funding comes as the search engine market is seeing renewed competition with AI models offering new ways for people to find and access information online. Another search engine, You.com, is close to raising $50 million, while Perplexity, already valued at over a billion dollars, is also seeking more funding.
Source: reuters
