US-based machine learning development software creator Algorithmia received $25m yesterday in a series B round backed by internet technology provider Google and e-commerce firm Rakuten.

Venture capital firm Norwest Venture Partners (NVP) led the round, which included Osage University Partners (OUP), Madrona Venture Group and Work-Bench. The corporates invested through Gradient Ventures and Rakuten Ventures respectively.

Founded in 2013, Algorithmia started out as a marketplace for algorithms but now provides artificial intelligence-equipped development software that allows enterprises and government agencies to build expansive machine learning-based systems for their organisations.

The company’s software confronts what it regards as a major deterrent to AI’s adoption – the manual resources taken up by infrastructure management tasks during deployment. It automatically builds an application programming interface from the client’s inputted machine learning algorithms and models.

The series B capital will fund product development, the recruitment of engineering talent, international expansion and the strengthening of Algorithmia’s sales and marketing. NVP partner Rama Sekhar has joined the company’s board of directors.

Algorithmia raised $10.5m in a mid-2017 round series A led by Gradient Ventures that included Rakuten Ventures, OUP, Work-Bench and Madrona Venture Group.

Madrona had already led the company’s $2.4m seed round in 2014, investing alongside Rakuten Ventures, Deep Fork Capital, Oren Etzioni and Charles Fitzgerald.

– This article originally appeared on our sister site, Global University Venturing.

US-based machine learning development software creator Algorithmia yesterday received $25m in a series B round backed by spinout-focused investment firm Osage University Partners (OUP).
Norwest Venture Partners led the round, which also included Gradient Ventures, the artificial intelligence (AI)-focused investment unit of internet company Google, and Rakuten Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of e-commerce firm Rakuten.
Madrona Venture Group and Work-Bench filled out the series B round.
Founded in 2013, Algorithmia started out as a marketplace for algorithms but now provides AI-equipped development software that allows enterprises and government agencies to build expansive machine learning-based systems for their organisations.
Algorithmia’s software confronts what the company regards as a major deterrent to AI’s adoption, that is, the manual resources taken up by infrastructure management tasks during deployment. The platform automatically builds an application programming interface from the client’s inputted machine learning algorithms and models.
The series B capital will fund product development, hiring engineering talent, sales, marketing and international expansion. Rama Sekhar, a partner at Norwest Venture Partners, has joined the board of directors.
The company previously raised $10.5m of series A funding in a 2017 round led by Gradient Ventures and backed by OUP, Rakuten Ventures, Work-Bench and Madrona, the latter of which led its $2.4m seed round in 2014.
Rakuten Ventures, Deep Fork Capital and angel investors Oren Etzioni and Charles Fitzgerald also contributed to the seed round.