Generative AI tools are emerging that can help graphic designers zoom through tasks like image editing. We break down the market and what could come next.
Copilots are designed to work alongside humans, automating tedious tasks or providing fleshed-out suggestions to help users finish things up more quickly.
One increasingly popular use case of this technology is graphic design.
For example, Adobe has launched a suite of generative AI models, called Firefly, which act as a copilot to auto-edit designers’ work. Microsoft also recently introduced genAI features to its Designer product to speed up and augment workflows.
Meanwhile, a clutch of startups are entering the race. These companies are building copilots to help graphic designers with tools like generative fill & color, text-to-image, image extension generation, and much more.
As genAI copilots gain traction, enterprise functions like marketing and content creation could soon be revamping their workflows to take advantage.
Using CB Insights data, we dug into the copilots for designers market across the following areas:
- Total funding
- Top-funded companies
- Notable investors
- What’s next?
Total funding
There are nearly 15 startups offering copilot tools that specifically target graphic designers. Collectively, these companies have raised just over $375M in total disclosed equity funding. Funding has increased steadily over the last few years and reached a whopping $155M in 2022 when generative AI started gaining mainstream traction — funding in 2023 has already nearly matched this total. Expect deals to pick up as the output quality of generative AI models increases and demand from enterprises grows.
See all the startups offering copilots for designers in the CB Insights Generative AI Expert Collection.
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