Arize AI, a startup that offers an AI observability platform, has raised $70 million in Series C funding to further develop its product and expand into growing AI segments. The funding round, led by Adams Street Partners, brings the company's total funding to over $130 million.

The Berkeley, California-based company's platform helps businesses evaluate and monitor their AI products, from machine learning and computer vision to generative AI. Arize's approach is unique in that it uses a "council of judges" method, which involves evaluating AI with different AI models, as well as human input. This approach allows companies to identify and fix errors and issues in their AI products more efficiently.

The idea behind Arize came from the founders' previous experience at TubeMogul, a brand advertising company acquired by Adobe for over $500 million in 2016. At TubeMogul, everything ran on AI, and when it would break, it would be a significant problem due to the complexity of the technology. This experience led the founders to recognize the need for a platform that could effectively evaluate and monitor AI products.

Arize launched in 2019 with an initial focus on predictive machine learning. Since then, the company has experienced rapid growth, with its platform now working with a variety of AI applications. The company's open-source offering, Arize Phoenix, has also seen significant adoption, with over two million monthly downloads.

The company plans to use its latest funding to improve its main product and expand into growing AI segments, including voice and AI agents. Arize's founders believe that the AI observability and evaluation space is becoming increasingly crowded, but they are confident that their platform's ability to offer both pre- and post-launch evaluations, as well as its versatility across different AI applications, sets it apart from competitors.

Arize's growth and funding are a testament to the growing recognition of the importance of AI observability and evaluation. As AI becomes more ubiquitous in various industries, the need for effective monitoring and evaluation tools will only continue to increase. With its latest funding, Arize is well-positioned to capitalize on this trend and establish itself as a leader in the AI observability space.

The company's founders are optimistic about the future of the market, with CEO Jason Lopatecki stating that "people now see how big this market can be. You're going to have a lot of little guys. You're gonna have big people jumping in it, and I expect it to be a fast, growing, large market." With its latest funding and continued growth, Arize AI is poised to play a significant role in shaping the future of AI observability and evaluation.