TechCrunch Startup News Black Forest Labs raises $300M at $3.25B valuation; plus, OpenAI’s investment into Thrive Holdings is its latest circular deal
Dec 2, 2025
Black Forest Labs just secured $300 million, pushing its valuation to $3.25 billion, with big names like Salesforce Ventures and NVIDIA backing the move. Their innovative Flux 2 model is already catching the eye of major players like Adobe and VSCO. Meanwhile, OpenAI's recent investment in Thrive Holdings raises eyebrows, especially around the long-term viability of embedding AI in startups. Will these partnerships lead to meaningful profits or just inflated valuations? Tune in for insights on this intricate web of tech funding!
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Rapid Rise Of A New Image-Model Leader
- Black Forest Labs raised $300M at a $3.25B valuation after launching less than a year earlier.
- Its Flux 2 model supports up to 4K output and uses up to 10 reference images to preserve style.
Wide Industry Adoption Boosted Growth
- Black Forest Labs' models are embedded across many companies including Adobe, VSCO, and Eleven Labs.
- High-profile integrations and use by services like Grok accelerated the startup's prominence.
Founders' Stable Diffusion Origins
- Founders Robin Rombach, Patrick Esser, and Andreas Blattman previously helped create Stability AI's stable diffusion models.
- Their prior research pedigree explains why many companies quickly adopted Black Forest Labs' models.