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§ Private Profile · Pasadena, CA, USA
Prorata.AI is a technology company.
Prorata.AI develops AI-powered solutions for search, advertising, and content attribution. Its core product, an attribution model, ensures transparent crediting and equitable value sharing for content creators and publishers. The platform licenses content directly, distributing revenues to partners and promoting traffic back to original sources, fostering a more balanced ecosystem.
Bill Gross founded Prorata.AI in 2024, recognizing that generative AI's use of copyrighted material without compensation threatened creators. His insight focused on establishing a framework for fair revenue sharing, explicit permissions, and proper recognition, crucial for content creators' sustainability in the digital landscape.
Prorata.AI serves a growing base of publishers and individual content creators across journalism, music, and business. The company's mission is to cultivate a protected, thriving ecosystem where all stakeholders benefit from zero-click search advancements, ensuring AI responsibly supports and remunerates creative work.
Prorata.AI has raised $65.0M across 2 funding rounds.
Prorata.AI has raised $65.0M in total across 2 funding rounds.
ProRata.ai is a technology company founded in 2024 that builds AI-powered solutions for search, advertising, and content attribution, enabling generative AI platforms to fairly credit and compensate content owners on a per-use basis.[1][2] Its core products include Gist Answers (custom AI search engines tailored to site content from over 700 trusted publications), Gist Ads (native advertising in AI answers with revenue sharing), and Gist Attribution (tools for proportional revenue sharing with creators, using only licensed content).[2][3][4] ProRata serves publishers, creators, media companies (e.g., Universal Music Group, The Atlantic, Fortune), and AI platforms, solving the problem of uncompensated content use in AI by providing transparent attribution, 50% revenue shares, and promotion back to original sources—fostering a sustainable ecosystem amid zero-click search trends.[1][2][5] The company has raised over $75M, including a $40M Series B in 2025, signaling strong growth momentum with pilots, partnerships, and expansion plans for Gist Answers as an embeddable AI service.[4][5]
ProRata.ai was founded in 2024 by Bill Gross, a serial entrepreneur known for inventing pay-per-click advertising and as chairman of Idealab Studio, the Pasadena-based tech incubator where the company launched.[1][5] Gross serves as CEO, driven by the need to "fix the AI economy's greatest fault" by aligning generative AI with content creators, much like Spotify transformed music streaming from theft (Napster) to fair revenue sharing.[1][5] The idea emerged from Gross's observation that AI relies on creators' work without compensation, prompting development of fractional attribution tech.[1][2] Early traction came swiftly: launch support from Universal Music Group, The Atlantic, Fortune, and the Financial Times; advanced talks with 100+ authors and global publishers; and seed investments from Revolution Ventures, Prime Movers Lab, and Mayfield, with leadership from ex-Microsoft, Google, and Meta executives plus Hulu co-founder Michael Lang on the board.[1][2][5] By 2025, a $40M Series B led by Touring Capital accelerated product rollouts.[4]
ProRata rides the generative AI attribution crisis, where LLMs scrape content without credit, eroding publisher revenues amid zero-click search dominance—timely as regulations and lawsuits (e.g., from news/media) demand ethical models.[1][2][5] Market forces like rising creator advocacy (Universal Music, Axel Springer) and investor bets ($75M+ raised) favor ProRata's infrastructure, which grows the AI pie by incentivizing high-quality content and protecting consumers from unreliable outputs.[1][4][5] It influences the ecosystem by pioneering "attribution-as-a-service," enabling sustainable monetization like streaming platforms, potentially setting standards for AI platforms and fostering diverse content amid consolidation.[2][3][5]
ProRata is poised to scale Gist Answers and Attribution globally post-Series B, expanding pilots into broad publisher adoption and integrating with more AI engines for ubiquitous revenue sharing.[4] Trends like AI regulation, premium ad networks in answers, and demand for verified content will propel it, evolving its role from innovator to ecosystem standard-setter—ensuring creators thrive as AI redefines information.[2][5] This positions ProRata as the fairness engine powering a "pro-author, pro-artist, pro-consumer" AI future, directly advancing its founding mission.[1][5]
Prorata.AI has raised $65.0M across 2 funding rounds. Most recently, it raised $40.0M Series B in September 2025.
| Date | Round | Lead Investors | Other Investors | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 1, 2025 | $40M Series B | Nagraj Kashyap | Alumni Ventures, Softbank Group, Navin Chaddha | Announced |
| Aug 6, 2024 | $25M Series A | — | Bill Goss, Mayfield, Prime Movers LAB, Revolution Ventures | Announced |
Prorata.AI has raised $65.0M in total across 2 funding rounds.
Prorata.AI's investors include Nagraj Kashyap, Alumni Ventures, Softbank Group, Navin Chaddha, Bill Goss, Mayfield, Prime Movers Lab, Revolution Ventures.