In Los Angeles, CA, a new player has emerged at the intersection of content creation and artificial intelligence: Troveo, a platform dedicated to helping content owners, including creators, filmmakers, and production companies, license their work to AI companies without giving up ownership rights. Led by CEO Marty Pesis, Troveo addresses a significant industry pain point, offering content owners a way to monetize their work in an era where AI models rely heavily on high-quality data for training, often without compensating the original creators.
Ensuring Fair Compensation in a “Lawless” AI Landscape
Troveo was born out of the growing need for fair and legal compensation structures in the AI ecosystem. As CEO Pesis explains, “AI companies have been seen as adversaries to the creative industry, but we believe there’s a better path forward. We’re enabling creators to work side-by-side with AI companies in a way that ensures they are fairly compensated for their contributions.” The company seeks to shift the narrative, fostering collaboration between AI and creatives while addressing a key concern: ownership and fair payment for data usage.
Content owners are among the hardest hit by the unregulated use of data by AI companies, who can currently scrape data from the internet for model training without compensating the original creators. Troveo aims to change this by establishing a platform where content owners can license their data and earn revenue every time an AI company uses their content to train its models. With Troveo’s approach, content owners retain ownership of their work and can license it as many times as they want, creating a recurring revenue stream.
$4.5 Million to Scale Operations and Platform Development
In a recent Seed funding round, Troveo raised $4.5 million, backed by Seven Seven Six, an early-stage venture capital firm founded by Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian. The round also saw participation from prominent angel investors, including Siqi Chen, Andreas Klinger, and Zynga founder Mark Pincus. These funds will support Troveo’s operational expansion and platform enhancement, with the goal of creating a robust ecosystem where content owners can confidently license their work in a secure, transparent, and user-friendly environment.
“There’s significant traction in the data training space,” said Alexis Ohanian, Founder and General Partner at Seven Seven Six. “Creators are looking for more revenue streams, and AI companies are seeking quality data. No one understands this market better than Marty.”
Expertise in the Creator Economy and Digital Rights
Marty Pesis, Troveo’s CEO and co-founder, brings over 15 years of experience in the creator economy. His journey in tech and media started with his first company, SociaLink, which he sold in 2017. SociaLink was designed to help celebrities build audiences and launch their products. Following this, Pesis joined Cameo as one of its earliest employees, where he played a key role in marketing and launching Cameo for Business, a branch focused on celebrity video greetings for corporate engagements.
In his latest entrepreneurial venture, Pesis launched Vouch, a hiring platform for creators, which was successfully acquired by YouTube influencer MrBeast earlier this year. This acquisition has solidified Pesis’s reputation as an innovator in the creator economy, providing him with the ideal experience to address the unique challenges of AI content licensing through Troveo.
Co-founder Trent Krupp serves as Troveo’s Chief Revenue Officer, bringing a deep understanding of the entertainment industry and its needs. Krupp previously worked at Impact, a networking platform co-founded by Ron Howard and Brian Grazer that’s often described as LinkedIn for Hollywood crew workers. Krupp’s experience with marketplaces and digital rights further strengthens Troveo’s positioning as a company poised to redefine data licensing in AI.
Monetizing Content While Preserving Ownership
At its core, Troveo offers a platform that enables content owners to securely upload their work and receive licensing deals from AI companies interested in training their models on high-quality data. Once uploaded, content owners retain full ownership rights and have the option to license their content an unlimited number of times. This arrangement allows for recurring revenue without compromising control over the original content.
This model has already attracted significant interest from AI companies, and Troveo has secured deals with several major players in the industry. By the end of the year, the company projects it will have paid out over $5 million to content owners who have licensed their work via Troveo.
Addressing the Content Owner’s Dilemma
The rapid rise of AI technologies has created a “lawless” environment where legal protections for content owners are lagging. Pesis points out that lawmakers are “years behind” in their understanding of the industry, which has left creators without the necessary legal safeguards to protect their rights and receive fair compensation. In response to this issue, Troveo has positioned itself as a champion for content owners, offering a secure platform that not only provides monetary benefits but also ensures creators can retain control over their work.
Pesis explained further: “Content owners are among the industries most impacted by the lack of regulation because they can spend more than $1 million on one video without any compensation from AI companies.” By bridging the gap between content owners and AI, Troveo is setting a new standard for ethical and fair AI training practices in a way that benefits both parties.
Expanding Troveo’s Impact in the AI and Creative Ecosystem
With $4.5 million in new funding and a clear mission to empower content owners, Troveo is well on its way to reshaping the AI training landscape. As the demand for high-quality training data grows, Troveo’s model offers a sustainable and mutually beneficial approach for both AI companies and content creators. Through Troveo, AI companies gain access to valuable data for model training, while content owners receive consistent revenue without relinquishing control over their intellectual property.
As the platform continues to grow, Troveo’s leadership, backed by Alexis Ohanian and other influential investors, sees a path toward creating a new norm in the industry—one where content owners and AI companies work together harmoniously, with transparency and fairness at the forefront.