About Figure Eight
Figure Eight was a Technology company based in San Francisco (United States) founded in 2007 by Lukas Biewald and Chris Van Pelt, and was acquired by Appen in March 2019. It offers AI training data, annotation, and services for enterprise AI development. It operates on a B2B and SaaS model. Figure Eight has raised $56.9 million across 7 funding rounds from investors including Bessemer Venture Partners, Appen and Canvas Ventures. The company has 228 employees. Its chief executive, as recorded, is Lukas Biewald. The company is recorded as dissolved. Figure Eight offers products and services including AI Training Data, Data Annotation, Data Collection, LLM Training Data & Services, and Platform. Its focus areas include Generative AI, Training Data, Multilingual Services and AI and Machine Learning. Its legal entity is CROWDFLOWER. Its competitors include Snorkel AI, Labelbox and Granica; 3 of its 3 listed competitors have raised funding.
Company details
Appen specializes in creating scalable, high-quality data for AI models, including annotation and collection services. It supports the AI lifecycle from data preparation to monitoring through its platform. Based in Australia and the USA, Appen partners with top companies and institutions to deliver diverse datasets for generative AI and machine learning. The company emphasizes human-AI collaboration to enhance model performance and meets enterprise needs with flexible, innovative solutions.
- Headquarters San Francisco, United States
- Employees 228
- Founders Lukas Biewald, Chris Van Pelt
- Stage Acquired
- SectorsTechnology
- Website figure-eight.com
- Social LinkedIn X
- Acquired by Appen (Mar 2019)
- Legal Name Crowdflower
- Total Equity Funding$56.9M (USD)
in 7 rounds
- Latest Funding Round$20M (USD), Series D
Jun 2017
- InvestorsBessemer Venture Partners
& 7 more
- Employee Count228
- Acquired byAppen
(Mar 2019)
Products & Services of Figure Eight
Figure Eight offers a comprehensive portfolio of products and services, including AI Training Data, Data Annotation, Data Collection, LLM Training Data & Services, and Platform.
Provides datasets for training AI models effectively
Service for labeling data to improve AI accuracy
Gathers diverse data for AI applications worldwide
Offers specialized data for large language models
Enables data curation and monitoring for AI projects
Funding Insights of Figure Eight
Figure Eight has successfully raised a total of $56.9M across 7 strategic funding rounds. The most recent funding activity was a Series D round of $20 million completed in June 2017. This substantial capital infusion reflects strong investor confidence in the company's business model, growth potential, and market opportunities. The funding enables strategic expansion, product development, market penetration, and operational scaling to drive long-term value creation and competitive advantage.
- Total Funding $56.9M
- Total Rounds 7
- Last Round Series D — $20M
- First Round $1.2M
(Mar 2009)
- Investors Count 7
All 7 funding rounds of Figure Eight with amounts and investors; the two latest post-money valuations are shown, the rest are part of the premium plan.
| Date | Amount | Transaction Name | Valuation | Lead Investors | Investors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 2017 | $20M | Series D | – | Industry Ventures | |
| Jun 2016 | $10M | Series D | – | M12, Canvas Ventures | – |
| Sep 2014 | $12.5M | Series C | – | Canvas Ventures, Bessemer Venture Partners | – |
| Mar 2011 | $7M | Series B | – | – | |
| Jan 2010 | $5M | Series A | – | – | |
| Jun 2009 | $1.2M | Seed | – | – | – |
| Mar 2009 | $1.2M | Seed | – | – |
8 investors in total: 8 institutional.
Investors in Figure Eight
Figure Eight has secured backing from 8 investors, including venture fund and institutional investors. Prominent investors backing the company include Bessemer Venture Partners, Appen and Canvas Ventures.
| Investor | Description | Founded Year | Domain | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Investments in private tech ecosystem are made by Industry Ventures. | industryventures.com | San Francisco, United States | ||
VC firm making early stage investment in tech companies in the US | 2013 | canvas.vc | Portola Valley, United States | |
Venture capital investments in technology startups are facilitated by M12. | m12.vc | San Francisco, United States | ||
Venture capital firm investing in early-stage technology and real estate companies. | trinityventures.com | |||
Venture capital investments and support for entrepreneurs in technology and innovation sectors. | 1911 | bvp.com | Redwood City, United States | |
Early-stage venture capital is provided to US tech startups. | questvp.com | Menlo Park, United States | ||
| salesforce.com/company/ventures | ||||
Human-annotated datasets for AI training are provided. | 1996 | appen.com | Chatswood, Australia |
Investor details for Figure Eight
The complete investor list, round-by-round participation and investor portfolios require an active premium plan.
- Complete investor list
- Round participation
- Investor portfolios
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People of Figure Eight
158 people are tracked at Figure Eight (23 in leadership, 5 in board & advisors, 130 in team); the tracked headcount is 228.
| Name | Role | Group |
|---|---|---|
Lukas Biewald | Co-Founder, CEO | Leadership |
Chris Van Pelt | Co-Founder, CAO | Leadership |
Sherry Bi | Financial Director | Leadership |
Kim Stagg | VP, Product | Leadership |
Ryan Kolln | CEO | Leadership |
Si Chen | Vp, Strategy & Marketing | Leadership |
Alicia Hale | Chief Marketing Officer | Leadership |
Pratik G. | Director Of Operations & COS | Leadership |
Paramjit Kaur | Head of Corporate Recruitment | Leadership |
Scott Eddleman | Director Of Product Marketing | Leadership |
Gavin Dong | VP Of Business Development, China & South Korea | Leadership |
Gwenaëlle Auxerre | Director Of Project Operations | Leadership |
Kandice Christensen | Interim Director & Program Manager | Leadership |
Tweety Qiao | Senior Director-leader Of AI Data Collection Service (china, Japan And Korea) | Leadership |
Dr.dana Aghaei | Managing Director | Leadership |
Robert Page | Vice President, Client Delivery | Leadership |
Kevin Sun | Japan And Korea Solution & Delivery Director | Leadership |
Caroline W. | Director, Secure Facilities | Leadership |
Alberto Orejel Malfavon | Director Of Product Management | Leadership |
Mohamed Abdelkwey | Head Of Human Resources | Leadership |
138 more people are available in the full profile.
Complete people profiles for Figure Eight
Full employee and board profiles, team structure, tenure and professional contact details require an active premium plan.
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Verified entity values are shown only after access is granted.
Timeline of Figure Eight
4 dated milestones of Figure Eight across 12 years, from founding to its latest funding, stage changes and deals.
- Founded Figure Eight is founded.
- Funding First funding round of $1.2M.
- Funding Latest funding round, Series D, of $20.0M.
- Exit Acquired by Appen.
Competitors of Figure Eight
Figure Eight has 3 listed competitors in our database, 3 of them funded. They include Snorkel AI, Labelbox and Granica.
| Company Name | Domain | Founded | HQ Location | Total funding | Employees | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| snorkel.ai | 2015 | Palo Alto, United States | $238.3M | 91 | AI development processes offering programmatic solutions | |
| labelbox.com | 2017 | San Francisco, United States | $188.9M | 88 | Training data platform for AI applications is provided. | |
| granica.ai | 2019 | Mountain View, United States | $45M | 21 | AI efficiency platform for AI training |
Detailed competitors of Figure Eight
The full competitor set, operating metrics and side-by-side benchmarks require an active premium plan.
- Full competitor set
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Verified entity values are shown only after access is granted.
Top companies in Localization & Global SaaS Platforms
3 companies that operate in the same segment as Figure Eight (Localization & Global SaaS Platforms) in United States, ranked by their profile score on The Company Check.
| Company | Description | Founded | Location | Total funding | Revenue | Employees |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
On-demand transcription, captioning, and document translation services are offered. | 2010 | San Francisco, California, United States | USD 4.9 M | |||
Translation software is developed for enterprises and LSPs. | 1995 | Alexandria, United States | USD 12 M | |||
Cloud-based audio-visual localization services are provided by ZOO Digital Group. | 1999 | El Segundo, California, United States | USD 41.84 M | 435 |
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Related news about Figure Eight
Complete news archive for Figure Eight
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Frequently Asked Questions about Figure Eight
Figure Eight was founded in 2007 and raised its 1st funding round 2 years after it was founded.
Figure Eight is headquartered in San Francisco, United States. It is registered at San Francisco, California, United States.
Lukas Biewald is the CEO of Figure Eight, as recorded in our data. They have also founded this company.
Figure Eight is a funded company, having raised a total of $56.9M across 7 funding rounds to date. The company's 1st funding round was a Seed of $1.2M, raised on Mar 2009.
Figure Eight has 228 employees.
Appen specializes in creating scalable, high-quality data for AI models, including annotation and collection services. It supports the AI lifecycle from data preparation to monitoring through its platform. Based in Australia and the USA, Appen partners with top companies and institutions to deliver diverse datasets for generative AI and machine learning. The company emphasizes human-AI collaboration to enhance model performance and meets enterprise needs with flexible, innovative solutions.
Figure Eight's top competitors include Snorkel AI, Granica and Labelbox.
Figure Eight offers AI Training Data, Data Annotation, Data Collection, LLM Training Data & Services, and Platform.
Figure Eight has 8 investors. Key investors include Bessemer Venture Partners, Appen, Canvas Ventures, Industry Ventures, and M12.
Figure Eight operates through Crowdflower.
Yes. Figure Eight was acquired by Appen in March 2019.