Quora is making headlines again with its first funding round in almost seven years, securing $75 million from venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z). This investment is earmarked for the growth of Poe, Quora’s innovative AI chat platform.
What sets Quora’s AI chatbots apart is their unique approach towards cultivating a new segment within the creator economy specifically focused on AI chatbots. This model shifts the traditional creator revenue generation from platforms like YouTube to income earned through developing engaging AI bots.
Quora CEO Adam D’Angelo expressed that a significant portion of this new funding will be channeled into paying creators through the company’s newly introduced creator monetization program. Launched in October, this program enables bot creators and developers integrating bots with Poe AI to earn revenue, fostering a vibrant ecosystem of innovation and creativity.
The company’s commitment to creators is evident in its strategy to attract top talent to Poe, promising financial incentives. The platform is notably diverse, incorporating various text and image AI models like ChatGPT, DALL-E 3, Claude 2, Stable Diffusion, Llama, and others, providing creators with a broad array of tools for their creations.
Quora’s valuation has seen a notable change since its last venture capital funding in 2017, when it was valued at around $1.8 billion. The latest funding round places its value at $500 million, reflecting the broader market shifts influenced by rising interest rates and increased capital costs. Despite this, D’Angelo views the new valuation positively, aligning with the current market conditions.
Poe has gained significant traction since its launch a year ago, with Quora experiencing its highest usage week recently and maintaining over 400 million monthly unique visitors. D’Angelo notes that Quora, excluding Poe, is cash flow positive, allowing all the new funding to be invested in the development of Poe.