AI-powered horse monitoring tech, Magic AI announced that it is shutting down. The AI-powered horse monitoring tech startup was trying to apply advanced machine-learning to animals and humans, for non-verbal forms of data and communication.
Magic AI was applying advanced machine-learning to video streams of living, breathing, moving animals. The company’s first product is for the equine industry, using our platform to improve the health and security of premium horses and stables.
According to Geekwire, Magic AI raised $1.2 million in an April 2018 seed round. But CEO Alexa Anthony failed in her bid to raise a second $3 million round and said this week that no buyers had come forward for the company or the intellectual property.
CEO Anthony announced the shutdown in a Medium post over the weekend,
Many of you are wondering, but what happened?
Well, after successfully launching our product in January this year, we went to market and signed more contracts than we could fulfill without the capital we needed. Long story short, we needed money from the VC community to power our growth, but the equine market seems niche as an end-goal. Although we always planned to move into other markets after proving the technology out in Equine. So without this funding, we had to start thinking of other plans.
In the end of the day, wrapping up my startup was even harder than it was to get it started. But the people I had the opportunity to meet and work with along the way gave me so much more that I ever imagined. People that join startups tend to care less about the money and more about making an impact and believing in the mission of the company. I was so incredibly lucky to have special and gifted people working with me to save horses lives. In addition to our team, I became connected into the women entrepreneurial network of the west coast. I was very proud to meet many brave, strong, and incredibly ambitious women through my journey. There are definitely not enough of us out there. I was also pretty bothered by the amount of discrimination that happens in the VC community. We all need to put more effort into improving that if we want to see more women and people of color leading the next wave of high tech startups.