Recent Y Combinator Graduate, MarqVision, Closes $5M in Seed Funding Round; SoftBank Main Investor

MarqVision Gives Brands and Retailers Ability to Combat Counterfeiters Globally With Advanced AI Technology

LOS ANGELES–(BUSINESS WIRE)–MarqVision, a next-generation, AI-powered IP protection platform, today announced the close of a $5 million seed round backed by SoftBank Ventures, Y Combinator and Bass Investment. The funding follows MarqVision’s graduation from the prestigious technology incubator Y Combinator as a summer 2021 cohort, where it further developed its platform to automate the detection and reporting of counterfeits through image recognition and semantic analysis.

With annual counterfeiting sales reaching $3 trillion last year, MarqVision has experienced rapid growth since launching in 2020—reporting a 50% monthly growth rate over the past six months. Additionally, MarqVision reached $1 million in annual recurring revenue after nine months, surpassing the standard rate for a SaaS startup.

The brand protection industry is outdated, with 90% of detection and enforcement work done manually. Traditional brand protection requires sizable operations teams to tackle the problem. Conversely, MarqVision automates the process with software and AI, resulting in productivity increases and cost savings for brands and retailers.

“The rate at which MarqVision is growing illustrates the universal problem of counterfeits,” said Mark Lee, CEO and Co-Founder of MarqVision. “Our mission is to help brands, retailers and marketplaces navigate brand and IP protection, and this latest funding raise will allow us to do just that.”

With this seed round, MarqVision will expand the company infrastructure and increase enforcement capabilities in Asia. Additionally, MarqVision launched its newest product, an anti-piracy software to protect global content in the gaming, entertainment and animation industries.

“MarqVision is building a category-defining product in the IP protection industry using the power of AI technology,” said JP Lee of SoftBank Ventures, which participated as the main investor in the seed round. “This investment allows MarqVision to accelerate its global expansion in both the U.S. and Asia.”

MarqVision expects to hold another raise in 2022.

About MarqVision

MarqVision helps global brands identify and remove counterfeits from online marketplaces like Amazon and Alibaba in over 30 countries. Counterfeiting is a massive and growing threat worldwide, and MarqVision is on a mission to protect intellectual property with technology that allows brands to automatically monitor and protect their IPs. Harnessing image recognition and natural language processing, this AI-powered, anti-counterfeiting SaaS makes it faster than ever before to take down counterfeits. Founded in 2020 by Harvard Law graduates and backed by Softbank and Y Combinator, MarqVision is bringing forth the next evolution of brand protection for businesses everywhere. Learn more: www.marqvision.com

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Julie Dietel

Grasslands: A Journalism-Minded Agency

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