Hark raises $700M Series A
- Hark said on May 21 it raised more than $700 million in a Series A round, valuing Brett Adcock’s new AI startup at $6 billion. - The round was led by Parkway Venture Capital and included Nvidia, AMD Ventures, Intel Capital, Qualcomm Ventures and Salesforce Ventures, company materials said. - Hark said it plans to release multimodal models this summer, followed by AI-native hardware devices built around those systems.
Brett Adcock’s new startup Hark said on May 21 that it raised more than $700 million in Series A funding at a $6 billion post-money valuation. The company says it is building multimodal AI systems and hardware devices designed to act as a “universal interface” between people and machines. TechCrunch and Bloomberg reported the round on Thursday, and Hark separately announced the financing in a company release. ### Who backed the deal? Parkway Venture Capital led the Series A, according to Hark’s announcement and reporting from TechCrunch and Bloomberg. Other investors named in the round include Nvidia, AMD Ventures, ARK Invest, Brookfield, Greycroft, Intel Capital, Prime Movers Lab, Qualcomm Ventures, Salesforce Ventures, Align Ventures and Tamarack Global. (techcrunch.com) The company described the financing as oversubscribed in its announcement. Qatalyst Partners advised Hark on the round, according to syndicated versions of the release. ### What is Hark saying it wants to build? Hark says it is developing “advanced personalized intelligence” built around multimodal AI systems that can interact through speech, vision and action. (techcrunch.com) The company’s materials describe the product plan as a personal AI platform first, followed by hardware designed specifically for those systems. (intelcapital.com) TechCrunch reported that Hark plans to release multimodal models this summer to power that platform. After that, the company plans to introduce bespoke hardware devices tied to the software stack, rather than relying only on third-party phones or computers. ### Why is Brett Adcock central to the pitch? Brett Adcock founded Hark after building several other companies, including Archer Aviation and recruiting startup Vettery, which was sold to Adecco for $100 million, according to multiple reports. (markets.financialcontent.com) He also remains chief executive of Figure AI, the humanoid robotics company he founded. (techcrunch.com) Business Insider reported that Adcock is trying to compete in a field that includes OpenAI, Apple, Google and Meta as companies race to define new AI hardware products. Bloomberg described Hark as an artificial-intelligence-focused hardware company, underscoring that investors are backing both the software and device ambition from the outset. (greyjournal.net) ### Why does the structure of the bet matter? TechCrunch reported that Hark is combining models and hardware around an AI personal assistant, rather than building a thinner application layer on top of existing systems. The investor list also includes semiconductor and platform companies such as Nvidia, AMD, Intel, Qualcomm and Salesforce, which points to interest across chips, enterprise software and consumer-device infrastructure. That reading is an inference from the investor roster and product plan described in the company announcement and news reports. (businessinsider.com) The $6 billion valuation also places Hark among the larger early-stage AI financings announced this year. Bloomberg said the valuation includes the new money raised, while Hark’s release described it as a post-money figure. ### What happens next? Hark said the next milestone is a summer launch of multimodal models for its personal AI platform. (techcrunch.com) The company then plans to roll out AI-native hardware devices built specifically for those models, according to TechCrunch and Hark’s announcement on May 21. (bloomberg.com)
