Grammarly raised $200 million and reached a $13 billion valuation. Other NLP companies are also gaining billion-dollar investments.

Grammarly Valuation Hits $13B, Investments Pour in for Language Processing Companies

Natural language processing (NLP) refers to the branch of AI enabling computers to understand the text and spoken words similar to how humans can. Grammarly, an early competitor, brought its language correction app to the market back in 2009. According to pitchbook.com, Grammarly is about to get even bigger. With three patents granted and one pending, Grammarly and a few others with similar projects are growing at a rapid rate.

Grammarly, the developer of an AI-powered writing assistant, has raised over $200 million at a valuation of $13 billion, more than five times the company’s previous value of $2.3 billion garnered two years ago, according to PitchBook data.

Baillie Gifford participated in the round, as did funds and accounts managed by BlackRock. The financing brings Grammarly’s total capital raised to $400 million, according to PitchBook data. Grammarly is now the highest valued company that is powered by natural language AI, according to Brendan Burke, a PitchBook analyst who covers artificial intelligence.

“The performance of natural language AI has improved significantly in recent years, especially after Google introduced a novel natural language programming method in late 2018,” Burke said.

It is clear the natural language performance of AI is moving into fields one would not automatically think of when considering where to use AI. Companies like Gong and Sapphire Ventures are introducing AI into fields like analyzing the conversation between salespeople and customers. Or even using AI to review legal contracts. There really is no end to what AI can and will be used for from here on out.

Many of the AI companies in that area are valued at over a billion dollars. Numerous NLP projects are finding all the funding they need thanks to the magic of their AI platforms, leading to faster development and introduction to the marketplace.

read more at pitchbook.com