Tech Robust Logo
Tech Robust Logo
F13 Secures $5M Pre-Seed to Build Vector Graphics AI Models

F13 Secures $5M Pre-Seed to Build Vector Graphics AI Models

The startup F13 raised $5M in pre-seed financing to develop an artificial intelligence model that creates highly accurate and editable vector graphics.

Inioluwa Ademidun | 23 Sept. 2026 · 5 min read

Open Tech Robust on Google News

Creating highly accurate visual assets using artificial intelligence remains a severe challenge for professional designers. Standard image generation software excels at producing creative, pixel-based pictures. When tasked with creating precise charts, mathematical diagrams, or scaled maps, these generic models usually fail completely. They lack the mathematical reasoning required to maintain correct proportions. A new startup named F13 recently emerged from stealth mode with a $5M pre-seed round to fix this exact technical failure. The company is actively building foundation models designed specifically to generate fully editable, highly precise vector graphics.

Securing a $5M pre-seed round represents a massive early vote of confidence from institutional investors. Credo Ventures and Point Nine Capital co-led this financing event. The capitalization table also includes angel checks from Carles Reina of Baobab Ventures and Jack Richardson of Mainframe. Raising this amount of capital before releasing a public product proves that investors desperately want alternatives to standard pixel-generating software.

The Technical Difference Between Pixels and Vectors

To understand why this product matters, you must look at the difference between standard image formats. Popular models generate images using pixels. When you zoom into a pixel-based image, the picture becomes blurry and distorted. You cannot easily pull the image apart to edit individual lines or change specific text elements.

Vector graphics use shapes and mathematical coordinates instead of pixels. This means a designer can enlarge a vector graphic infinitely without losing any visual quality. The format is heavily favored by professional designers, architects, and engineers who rely on exact mathematical proportions. F13 claims their new models understand two-dimensional space natively. When a user asks the software to generate a scientific diagram, the software uses actual geometry to draw the lines, ensuring the final product reflects the exact data provided.

Building Tools for Professional Environments

Gregory Janik and Ingimar Tomasson founded F13 to address a clear gap in the commercial software market. Janik is a repeat entrepreneur who previously sold a drone startup to Helsing. Tomasson carries heavy technical weight as a machine learning researcher who studied mathematics at University College London. The two founders met while working on visual products at a different technology firm. They quickly realized that existing software generated pretty pictures that were factually incorrect.

Janik stated plainly that professional designers do not want a model that acts impressively expressive but remains quietly wrong. The commercial design market demands software that follows strict brand guidelines and outputs accurate data. The team assembling this new technology includes former researchers from Meta and Porsche, along with commercial designers who previously worked with brands like Gucci and Nike. This blend of mathematical research and high-end fashion design helps the team build software that serves demanding corporate clients.

No Pitch Deck Required

The story behind the capital raise highlights the current frenzy surrounding specialized machine learning startups. Janik confirmed that the initial investment offer arrived after a casual conversation with an investor. The founding team successfully raised the entire $5M round without ever creating a formal pitch deck. In today's aggressive financial climate, venture capitalists are willing to bypass standard due diligence if they believe a founding team possesses rare technical skills. We recently saw a similar rush to fund specialized infrastructure when Backbone secured pre-seed funding to improve visual content pipelines, proving that investors are heavily targeting the structural tools behind visual media.

Pawel Chudzinski, a partner at Point Nine Capital, explained the logic behind their lead investment. He noted that while software engineers currently use automated agents to write heavy amounts of code, professional designers still do most of their technical drawing by hand. F13 wants to bring that same level of automation to the commercial design sector. The goal is to give designers a starting draft that they can actually edit and improve, rather than forcing them to start every project from a blank screen.

Current Availability and Future Plans

The startup launched an early access program for its initial model. Users can access the technology through a dedicated application programming interface or a direct web application. The platform accepts text descriptions, reference images, or rough existing graphics as prompts. It then produces a clean, editable vector file that matches the requested specifications. The current system supports the generation of data visualizations, presentation layouts, and editorial infographics.

The company will use the fresh capital to bring its first official model to the broader public later this year. They also plan to purchase heavy computing power, secure proprietary training data, and expand their engineering staff. Developing models that understand complex spatial relationships requires massive amounts of processing power. Securing specialized computing resources is becoming a major priority for startups operating in this sector. We documented this exact requirement when analyzing how Verifaix raised seed capital to verify complex chip designs, showing that deep technical software requires massive initial funding.

F13 intends to push their technology beyond simple charts and diagrams. They plan to develop advanced models capable of handling much heavier design tasks. If the startup can successfully integrate its vector technology into standard professional design workflows, it could completely alter how corporate branding and scientific illustration operate daily. The professional design sector has waited a long time for automated tools that prioritize accuracy over simple creativity. This $5M pre-seed round gives F13 the financial runway to prove their mathematical approach actually works in commercial environments.

Read More on TechRobust:

Inioluwa Ademidun

Inioluwa Ademidun

Expertise:African Tech Ecosystem, Early-Stage Startups, Emerging Market Dynamics, Venture Capital & Tech Reporting, Product Management

Award:TechRobust Contributor of the Year 2025

Inioluwa is a Senior Product Manager by day and an investigative technology reporter by night, bridging the gap between scalable software architecture and high-impact journalism. She delivers deep-dive analysis on venture-backed founders, regulatory shifts, and grassroots tech ecosystems across Africa and global emerging markets.