Melius raises $20M Series A to build AI tools for generating ad campaigns and creative assets

Melius, a startup founded by former engineers from Ramp, announced a $25 million funding round consisting of a $20 million Series A led by CRV and a $5 million seed round led by General Catalyst. The company emerged from stealth in July and now focuses on building AI tools for generating ad campaigns, images, and videos.

The co-founders—Joowon Kim, Young Kim, and Arnav Ramu—initially built an AI-powered performance marketing tool but scrapped the entire codebase after six months, describing the original product as not having 'legs.' They pivoted to an 'agents lab for creative work,' a platform designed to help users create creative assets and campaigns using plain language.

Within two months of coming out of stealth, Melius reported more than $1 million in annualized revenue. Co-founder Joowon Kim acknowledged the company’s early struggles but emphasized the team’s willingness to iterate quickly based on market feedback.

The startup joins a crowded field of competitors, including Higgsfield, Krea, and Flora AI, all of which are developing AI tools for creative and marketing workflows. Higgsfield, valued at $5.4 billion in August, reported over $700 million in annualized revenue, illustrating the scale of opportunity in this space.

Kim, who previously aspired to be a YouTuber, framed Melius as the tool he wished existed to simplify content creation. The platform aims to enable both seasoned creative directors and non-experts to turn ideas into digital media assets using plain language inputs.