Venice, founded in May 2024 by Erik Voorhees and Jesse Proudman, gives users access to a range of AI models through a platform built around privacy by architecture: all user data is encrypted client-side and routed through an external proxy, with nothing stored on Venice's own servers.
That privacy-first design found real demand fast: Venice reached more than 3 million active users and over 850,000 monthly website visitors, becoming a unicorn on a $65 million Series A at a $1 billion valuation in July 2026, led by Dragonfly with Coinbase Ventures also participating, while maintaining profitability on an annualized revenue run rate exceeding $70 million.
A free tier covers basic access, with paid Pro and Max plans starting around $18 a month adding higher usage limits and additional model access. For a user who wants AI model access built around client-side encryption and no server-side data storage by default, Venice's privacy-first architecture addresses that directly.
