It’s been almost a year since I met Coco Mao, CEO of OpenArt. At the time, the company was just beginning to inflect, as they built the creative infrastructure for the next generation of AI-native visual media. What followed was month after month of double-digit growth, driven by users who couldn’t live without the product. Creators weren’t just generating images - they were building characters, worlds, and storylines, and returning obsessively to extend them.
Since then, OpenArt, under the leadership of Coco and her cofounder John Qiao, has scaled to 8M MAU and $70M+ ARR, growing revenue 7x in 2025 with a ~20-person team. Those metrics are important - but what mattered equally to us was how that growth showed up. OpenArt creators weren’t churning through one-off outputs; they were returning to deepen characters, evolve, and advance narratives over time. That’s not just growth - it’s a platform becoming foundational.
The Problem: Creative AI Is Fragmented
Despite massive advances in generative AI, creative workflows remain broken. Creators still stitch together disconnected tools for images, video, characters, and distribution - losing consistency, narrative continuity, and velocity.
OpenArt was built to fix this. The platform enables creators to seamlessly move from idea → images → video with persistent characters that live across social media, entertainment, and advertising. Instead of producing one-off outputs, creators build universes.
Most tools optimize for output. OpenArt instead optimizes for storytelling: compounding content into enduring culture.
As Emmy-winning comedy writer Gil Rief put it: “OpenArt removes the friction between idea and execution. It turns ideas that would normally stay on the page into characters that can actually exist and grow.”
The Shift: From Content to IP
Our thesis is that as AI collapses the cost of creation, true IP becomes the scarce asset. In a world where anyone can generate content for quick clicks, the value compounds in characters, worlds, narratives, and brands that persist.
AI-native virtual singers, actors, influencers, and franchises are already emerging - and they’re expanding the entertainment and advertising markets. Studios, brands, and creators are experimenting with entirely new media and engagement formats.
OpenArt is purpose-built for this reality: character-first design, continuity across formats, and creative control at scale. It’s infrastructure for AI-native IP.
The Tension: Virtual IP and Creative Trust
Virtual IP raises real questions - especially for traditional creators. Avoiding those questions is exactly how AI platforms get it wrong. In contrast, OpenArt is leaning into that tension thoughtfully: partnering with creators, respecting IP rights, and building tools that expand creative capacity rather than replace it.
OpenArt treats creators as owners, not inputs. That distinction matters. This is not automation for its own sake. It’s democratizing storytelling at scale.
Why This Matters
The next generation of media franchises won’t start in Hollywood. They’ll start on AI-native platforms that empower individuals to build worlds.
OpenArt is the new creative stack - and with it, Coco and John are enabling an entirely new class of creators, and a new realm of IP.
We at Canaan are thrilled to lead OpenArt’s $30M Series A, alongside Basis Set Ventures and DCM, and partner with the team as they build the future of AI-native storytelling and creative IP.