Wand.app, an AI-powered creative tool designed to empower artists with greater customization and visualization capabilities, has successfully raised $4.2 million in seed funding. The funding round was led by O’Shaughnessy Ventures, reflecting strong interest in Wand’s unique approach to AI-driven creativity. Unlike other AI tools that may limit artists’ control over generated content, Wand.app seeks to empower artists by providing a combination of visual tools and personalization options.
Founded in December 2021 by CEO and founder Grant Davis, Wand.app aims to bridge the gap between AI-generated content and an artist’s specific vision. Unlike tools that rely solely on text prompts, Wand’s focus is on enabling artists to bring their exact creative ideas to life without compromises. The platform provides an illustration tool that transforms sketches and edits into fleshed-out suggestions, allowing artists to maintain their unique style and vision.
Wand.app enables artists to teach a personal AI their specific aesthetic, ensuring consistent results aligned with their creative preferences. The platform facilitates an editing process within a freeform art board, fostering collaboration and iteration for individuals and groups.
The tool is currently undergoing testing with a select group of beta testers, with plans for a public launch in the coming months. While Wand.app caters primarily to artists and illustrators, it’s designed to be accessible to both professionals and hobbyists alike.
Wand.app employs an in-app credit system to cover GPU costs, with potential subscription models under consideration for the future. The pricing model will be aligned with other creative AI products. Notably, Wand.app differentiates itself by offering functionality on mobile, tablet, and desktop, facilitating a more fluid editing process and greater graphical tooling capabilities.
The recent funding injection will enable Wand.app to expand its features for collaborative teams and develop new creative tooling for desktop use. The company is also focusing on refining its foundation model architectures and fine-tuning techniques. The funding round saw participation from notable investors, including Betaworks, Charge Ventures, Long Journey, Notation Capital, Twelve Below, and BDMI, along with angel investors such as Amy Wu, Eden Chen, Jared Hecht, and Steve Martocci.
Looking ahead, Wand.app is exploring ways for artists to share or sell fine-tuned models they’ve created, aiming to provide recognition and compensation. The company is cautious in its approach to this feature to prevent misuse and harmful content sharing. Additionally, Wand.app has aspirations to venture into 3D modeling applications, leveraging its existing toolset to potentially bridge the gap between 2D and 3D design.
