San Francisco-based generative AI startup Recraft has emerged from stealth with a $30 million Series B funding round led by Accel, alongside Khosla Ventures and Madrona. The company has achieved over $5 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR) and amassed a user base exceeding 4 million. Recraft gained industry attention when its image generation model, codenamed “red_panda,” outperformed OpenAI’s DALL-E and Midjourney on the Artificial Analysis benchmark. This model, known as Recraft V3, earned its nickname due to early users frequently generating images of the red panda. 

Recraft specializes in creating AI-generated images tailored for brand marketing, enabling precise placement of logos and adherence to branding guidelines without additional editing. This focus positions Recraft as a competitor not only to other image generators like Midjourney and Adobe Firefly but also to design tools such as Canva. The company builds its models from scratch, emphasizing high-quality outputs suitable for commercial use. 

Founded by Anna Veronika Dorogush, a former machine learning expert at Yandex with experience at Google and Microsoft, Recraft stands out with a solo female founder and CEO. Dorogush’s background includes a unique transition from professional modeling to earning a degree in mathematics and computer science, which she credits with teaching her the importance of focusing on mission-critical excellence.