World Labs, a startup founded by renowned Stanford University AI professor Fei Fei Li, has recently secured two rounds of financing within a span of two months. The most recent funding round, which valued the company at over $1 billion, was led by NEA. This $100 million round was previously reported by the Financial Times in July.
This significant increase in valuation occurred after World Labs’ initial financing in April, where the company was valued at $200 million. Investors in the first round included Andreessen Horowitz and Canadian firm Radical Ventures, where Li is a scientific partner, as reported by Reuters in May. Attempts to reach Fei Fei Li and NEA for comment have been unsuccessful.
World Labs, founded in April and achieving unicorn status in just four months, highlights the ongoing trend of investors backing AI startups led by prominent AI scientists, despite the unproven nature of their businesses.
World Labs is focused on developing AI models capable of accurately estimating the three-dimensional physical characteristics of real-world objects and environments. This advancement could enable detailed digital replicas without the need for extensive data collection, which is crucial in the rapidly evolving AI landscape.
Fei Fei Li, known as the “Godmother of AI,” discussed the concept of training machines to possess human-like “spatial intelligence” in a TED talk earlier this year.
According to an investor familiar with World Labs’ approach, the scarcity of three-dimensional data in various applications poses a challenge. World Labs’ models, once developed, could find applications in gaming and robotics. Li, best known for her work on ImageNet, is currently on partial leave from her role as co-director of Stanford’s Human-Centered AI Institute until December 2025.
