fal raises $1.3 billion at a $16 billion valuation

What fal does

Founded in 2021, fal gives developers access to AI models that generate images, video and audio through a single platform. Its infrastructure focuses on inference, the stage at which a trained model processes user requests and produces output. Entertainment studios, advertising agencies, e-commerce brands and game developers use the models in production. fal also fine-tunes existing models so they deliver faster, higher-quality results.

Capacity behind the round

The funding is driven by the need for more computing capacity. CEO Burkay Gür told Bloomberg that this summer the company's existing capacity was not enough to serve customers, forcing it to impose usage restrictions. fal plans to use the new money to expand its compute infrastructure and grow its 185-person team.

According to a person familiar with the matter cited by Bloomberg, fal's annualized revenue passed $800 million this year. In the near term the company intends to build on existing models rather than train its own from scratch, though Gür has not ruled out developing proprietary models in the future.