US-headquartered training data technology developer Sama has raised $70m in series B funding from investors including Salesforce Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of enterprise software supplier Salesforce.
Pension fund manager Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec’s Equity 253 fund led the round, which included First Ascent Ventures and Vistara Growth as well as all the company’s existing investors.
Founded in 2008, Sama has built a training platform for data technicians who gather image, video and text-based information for organisations to improve their artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities. It focuses on industries including autonomous mobility, healthcare, agriculture and e-commerce.
The company (then known as Samasource) had completed a $14.8m series A round in late 2019 led by Ridge Ventures and backed by Social Impact Ventures, Bestseller Foundation and Bluecrest Limited Capital.
Sama CEO Wendy Gonzalez said: “At Sama, we are committed to shaping a future of AI that is accurate, fair and ethical. The market is really fragmented but with our latest funding round and the support of our investors and community, we are committed to becoming the first one-stop-shop for AI development.”
