TOLLBIT, A TWO-SIDED MARKETPLACE FOR AI COMPANIES AND PUBLISHERS, CLOSES AT $24 MILLION IN SERIES A FUNDING; TRANSACTIONS ARE LIVE ON PRODUCT; MULTIPLE PUBLISHERS & AI COMPANIES JOIN PLATFORM

TollBit Ensures AI Companies Can Pay Publishers to Access the Content They Need in Real Time

NEW YORK, Oct. 22, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- TollBit founders Olivia Joslin and Toshit Panigrahi today announced that the company has raised $24M led by Lightspeed in Series A funding for their platform, which has created a fluid payment system benefiting both AI companies and content creators. TollBit allows AI agents and applications to pay websites directly to use their content or data. TollBit empowers publishers and content owners to monitor AI bot traffic and put up a tollbooth to monetize usage. The platform makes it easy for publishers to onboard multiple AI and LLM partners in real-time. The first clients have begun to use the system, which will benefit content creators and make AI more useful and up-to-date. AI news reader app, Particle, is now paying publishers through TollBit.

By providing tech infrastructure and payment protocol, TollBit helps AI companies use content without legal uncertainty. The system relies on tokens that are issued and validated by the platform to ensure every scrape or use is authorized and logged.

Joslin and Panigrahi welcome the support of two major new investors, Lightspeed and Section 32, both venture capital firms that focus on the growth of new technologies. Additional investments are from industry veterans Jeff Dean and Manuel Bronstein.

Today's funding announcement comes on the heels of strong growth since the company's March 2024 seed round, which totaled nearly $7M. TollBit's initial funding came from top investors with ties across digital media, tech, and AI. The seed round was led by Sunflower Capital and included participation from AIX Ventures, Lerer Hippeau, Checker Media, Operator Collective, and Liquid 2. Additional early funding came from BDMI.

In more evidence of the company's strength, TollBit also announced today that it has secured partnerships with its first AI companies and onboarded over 200 publisher sites. Publisher partners include Penske Media Corporation, TIME, Mumsnet, Trusted Media Brands, CANDR Media Group, and ADWEEK. 

"This market has grown so fast and we find both sides working with us to find mutually beneficial solutions," said Joslin. "Our platform supports multiple 1:1 deals between publishers and AI companies. That solves the problem that both sides face with unscalable and time-consuming one-on-one negotiations."

Panigrahi added, "We are very excited to be pioneering a standard so that any AI application can source content directly from any publisher - large or small - under standard terms in real-time without having long, protracted negotiations. This is the only way to create a sustainable AI ecosystem."

TollBit, he added, "is the only company offering a real-time solution for digital publishers to license their content per use and get paid immediately."

"As AI agents become more accessible and proliferate at an exponential rate, publishers and digital content owners need a way to monetize content that doesn't rely simply on eyeballs and clicks," said Michael Mignano, Partner at Lightspeed, who will be joining TollBit's board. "TollBit is the solution, addressing the needs of both publishers and AI developers -- we'll be watching and supporting the team as they innovate for tech companies in this new gen AI era." 

Panigrahi and Joslin, alumni of Toast, the cloud-based restaurant management company, say TollBit's nimble technology will also help publishers scale, as it provides them with the flexibility to set rates going forward. "We believe TollBit will create a healthier online ecosystem where publishers have the resources to invest in the quality, timely content that AI companies rely on to innovate and thrive—and that consumers expect," Panigrahi said. TollBit has managed to create one system that every publisher can use, despite the use of different types of technology by a diverse industry.

Sara Beykpour, CEO of Particle, the AI-powered news application, praised TollBit's platform: "Particle is really excited about the model TollBit is championing. Our visions are aligned, and we look forward to seeing TollBit enable innovation in media while ensuring that content publishers are compensated."

Danielle Coffey, CEO of the News/Media Alliance, which represents more than 2,200 publishers, expressed her support for TollBit's platform, "As publishers work with AI developers to build equitable partnerships, TollBit offers a scalable ecosystem solution to help news publishers monitor, provide access, and service licenses. We welcome efforts by companies like TollBit to help meet the needs of our industry, which is necessary for journalism to thrive."

"TIME has always embraced innovation to expand access to our trusted journalism. We look forward to partnering with TollBit to ensure we receive fair value for our content as we uphold our commitment to providing reliable information for audiences around the world," said TIME Chief Operating Officer Mark Howard.

Jacob Salamon, VP of Business Development at Trusted Media Brands, owner of media properties including Reader's Digest, said, "The media landscape continues to evolve rapidly as new technologies and AI tools are implemented and we are fortunate to have a partner like TollBit to help us embrace innovation in a way that can work for all of us."

Chris Dicker, CEO of CANDR Media Group, said, "To ensure the sustainability and growth of the evolving digital media ecosystem, innovative tools like TollBit are essential. We are excited to have partnered with them and are eager to embrace a future where the use of premium content is exchanged fairly and transparently."

"As the front page and homepage for the advertising, brand, and media industries, ADWEEK is on the front lines covering how AI is transforming publishers' business models, and is an advocate for ensuring content creators are compensated and recognized for their work," said ADWEEK CEO Will Lee. "We are thrilled to partner with TollBit to ensure ADWEEK will be fairly compensated for our commentary and journalism."

To learn more, please visit www.tollbit.com.

About TollBit
TollBit offers AI agents and applications an easy and compliant way to compensate websites directly for content. The platform seeks to address the new economics of content creation in the AI era by reducing the legal uncertainties of scraping and protecting the health of the entire content ecosystem.

About Lightspeed
Lightspeed is a multi-stage venture capital firm focused on accelerating disruptive innovations in the enterprise, consumer, fintech, and health sectors. Over the past two decades, we've backed hundreds of entrepreneurs and helped build more than 500 companies globally.

About Section 32
Section 32 is a venture capital firm investing at the frontiers of technology. Our goal is to accelerate the discovery, development, and distribution of revolutionary technologies that improve the human condition. We invest across the entirety of technology.

SOURCE TollBit