Prezent, a Los Altos-based startup empowering customers to build slide decks using generative AI, has secured $20 million in funding to further develop and refine its AI models for different use cases and expand into new markets.

The company's platform uses openly available AI models fine-tuned on proprietary data, including a dataset of 2 million slide decks, to power its platform. This allows users to upload their assets and documents, provide context about the company for which they're creating a presentation, and receive suggestions informed by the company's data and market.

Prezent's AI assistant, Astrid, provides users with layout recommendations and other suggestions to create professional-grade presentations. For companies on a tight deadline, Prezent offers an expedited service that employs a combination of AI and human reviewers to overnight spruced-up, finalized drafts.

The startup, founded in 2021 by Rajat Mishra, claims to serve around 150 Fortune 2000 companies, primarily in the biopharma and tech industries. With the new funding, Prezent plans to target customers in financial services and manufacturing, and expand its operations to Europe, Japan, and Singapore.

Prezent has already seen significant traction, generating over $10 million in annual recurring revenue last year. The company also plans to launch APIs to allow developers to create presentations directly from chatbots, apps, search engines, and more using its models.

Mishra, who previously worked at companies including Cisco and McKinsey, was driven to create Prezent due to his own struggles with stuttering and speech impediments at a young age. "The idea was, wouldn't it be cool if we could build an AI platform that democratizes business communication and makes everyone a great business communicator?" he said in an interview.

The latest investment, which values Prezent at "well over" $100 million, was led by Greycroft with participation from Zoom Ventures, Emergent Ventures, and WestWave. New investors True Global Ventures (TGV), Manulife Ventures, and Alumni Ventures also joined the tranche.

Prezent's expansion plans are ambitious, with the company aiming to enter Southeast Asia in Q2 of this year. With its AI-powered platform and growing customer base, Prezent is well-positioned to revolutionize the way businesses create presentations and communicate with their audiences.

As Mishra noted, "DeepSeek recently showed us that AI companies don't need these massive funding rounds to make a big impact any longer." With its latest funding round, Prezent is poised to make a significant impact in the world of business communication and beyond.