Veritone, Inc. (VERI): History, Ownership, Mission, How It Works & Makes Money

Ever wondered how Veritone, Inc. navigates the complex AI landscape, especially after reporting revenues of $116.3 million for the fiscal year 2023? This company operates at the intersection of artificial intelligence and enterprise solutions, deploying its proprietary aiWARE platform across diverse sectors like media, entertainment, and government. Understanding its journey, who holds the reins, and precisely how it generates value is crucial for anyone evaluating its position and potential in the rapidly evolving tech market. Are you ready to delve into the mechanics behind its operations and financial performance?

Veritone, Inc. (VERI) History

Veritone's Founding Timeline

Year established

Veritone was founded in 2014.

Original location

The company established its initial roots in Newport Beach, California.

Founding team members

It was brought into existence by brothers Chad Steelberg and Ryan Steelberg, both serial entrepreneurs with prior successful ventures.

Initial capital/funding

While specific seed funding details are private, the company secured funding through various private rounds before its public debut. A significant funding event was its Initial Public Offering (IPO) in 2017, which raised approximately $37.5 million, fueling its subsequent expansion and technological development. Understanding the core principles driving such ventures is crucial; explore the Mission Statement, Vision, & Core Values of Veritone, Inc. (VERI).

Veritone's Evolution Milestones

Veritone's Transformative Moments

Development of aiWARE

Pivoting to focus development on aiWARE, its proprietary operating system for artificial intelligence, was fundamental. This platform approach allowed Veritone to offer a scalable and adaptable solution across various industries, moving beyond single-point AI solutions.

Strategic Acquisitions Drive Scale

The deliberate strategy of acquiring complementary technologies and businesses, notably Wazee Digital and PandoLogic, rapidly expanded Veritone's market reach, technological breadth, and revenue streams. These weren't just tech acquisitions; they were strategic market entries.

Going Public for Accelerated Growth

The 2017 IPO provided the necessary capital to aggressively pursue its acquisition strategy and invest heavily in R&D, particularly for the aiWARE platform. This access to public markets marked a transition from a startup to a scaling enterprise, enabling bolder strategic moves.

Veritone, Inc. (VERI) Ownership Structure

Understanding who holds the reins at Veritone provides crucial context for its strategic direction and governance. As a publicly traded entity, its ownership is distributed among various groups, influencing decision-making processes.

Veritone's Current Status

Veritone, Inc. operates as a public company, listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange under the ticker symbol VERI. This status means its shares are available for purchase by the general public, and the company adheres to stringent regulatory reporting requirements mandated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Veritone's Ownership Breakdown

The ownership structure reflects a significant presence of institutional investors, balanced by holdings from company insiders and the public. This mix influences corporate governance and long-term strategy. Here's a snapshot based on late 2024 data:

Veritone's Leadership

The company's direction is guided by an experienced executive team and board of directors. As of the end of 2024, the key figures steering Veritone include:

• Ryan Steelberg - Chief Executive Officer & President
• Michael Zemetra - Chief Financial Officer & Treasurer
• Chad Steelberg - Chairman of the Board & Co-founder

This leadership team is responsible for executing the company's strategy and aligning operations with its overarching goals. You can learn more about the Mission Statement, Vision, & Core Values of Veritone, Inc. (VERI). Their decisions significantly impact shareholder value and the company's market position.

Veritone, Inc. (VERI) Mission and Values

Veritone's direction and culture are shaped by its commitment to leveraging artificial intelligence for broader societal benefit. These guiding principles inform its strategy and long-term aspirations beyond simple profit motives.

Veritone's Core Purpose

Official mission statement

To democratize artificial intelligence and build a safer, more vibrant, transparent, and just world.

Vision statement

While not always explicitly stated as a separate vision, the company's forward-looking goal centers on establishing its aiWARE platform as the foundational operating system for AI, driving innovation across diverse industries. Achieving such ambitious goals requires a robust foundation, something explored further in Breaking Down Veritone, Inc. (VERI) Financial Health: Key Insights for Investors.

Company slogan

Often associated with its core platform, a key message is: The Operating System for AI™.

Veritone, Inc. (VERI) How It Works

Veritone operates by providing an AI operating system, aiWARE, which orchestrates a diverse range of artificial intelligence models to analyze unstructured data like audio and video. This platform enables customers to transform raw data into actionable intelligence and automated workflows.

Veritone's Product/Service Portfolio

Veritone's Operational Framework

The company's core operational framework revolves around its proprietary aiWARE platform, delivered primarily through a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model. Customers access aiWARE functionalities via cloud-based applications or APIs, allowing integration into their existing systems. Veritone processes vast amounts of unstructured data ingested by clients, applying relevant AI models from its ecosystem to extract insights or automate tasks. Revenue generation is tied to platform subscriptions, usage-based consumption of AI processing, professional services for implementation and customization, and managed services, particularly within its advertising segment. Ongoing platform development and the integration of new AI models are central to maintaining operational effectiveness and value delivery. You can learn more by Exploring Veritone, Inc. (VERI) Investor Profile: Who’s Buying and Why?

Veritone's Strategic Advantages

Veritone possesses several strategic advantages that underpin its market position as of late 2024.

• Proprietary aiWARE Platform: The core AI operating system provides a significant technological moat, offering flexibility and extensibility unmatched by point solutions.
• Extensive Cognitive Engine Ecosystem: Access to hundreds of best-of-breed AI models allows tailored solutions across diverse use cases and industries, preventing vendor lock-in to a single AI capability.
• Industry-Specific Applications: Developing targeted solutions for key verticals like Media, Government, and Energy creates deep domain expertise and higher barriers to entry for competitors.
• Growing Data Advantage: As more clients use the platform, Veritone benefits from network effects and potentially improves its AI models (while respecting data privacy), enhancing platform value over time.
• Robust Patent Portfolio: The company holds numerous patents related to AI processing and platform architecture, protecting its innovations.

Veritone, Inc. (VERI) How It Makes Money

Veritone generates revenue primarily through its proprietary artificial intelligence platform, aiWARE, offering subscriptions, usage-based fees, and related professional services. It also provides technology-driven managed services, predominantly within the advertising sector.

Veritone, Inc.'s Revenue Breakdown

Based on financial data available through the end of the 2024 fiscal year, the company's revenue streams showed distinct contributions and trends.

Veritone, Inc.'s Business Economics

The company operates with a mix of recurring revenue models and service-based income. Understanding who holds significant stakes can provide further insight. Exploring Veritone, Inc. (VERI) Investor Profile: Who’s Buying and Why?

• Pricing Strategy: aiWARE utilizes tiered subscriptions, consumption-based pricing tied to processing volume, and customized enterprise agreements. Managed services often involve percentage-of-spend models or fixed project fees.
• Cost Structure: Key costs include research and development for AI innovation, sales and marketing expenses to acquire customers, cloud infrastructure costs for aiWARE, and personnel costs for managed services delivery.
• Economic Drivers: Growth hinges on aiWARE adoption across target verticals like media & entertainment, government, legal, and compliance. Customer acquisition cost (CAC) and customer lifetime value (LTV) are crucial metrics, particularly for the SaaS components. The advertising segment's performance is tied to overall ad market conditions.

Veritone, Inc.'s Financial Performance

Evaluating Veritone's financial health involves looking at key performance indicators reported for the fiscal year ending 2024.

• Revenue: Full-year 2024 revenue landed near **$120 million**, reflecting shifts in segment contribution.
• Gross Margin: The blended gross margin hovered around **55%**, influenced by the higher margins from AI software offset by lower margins in managed services.
• Profitability: Veritone continued to report a net loss in 2024, estimated around **$80 million**, as it prioritized investment in R&D and market expansion for its aiWARE platform over near-term profitability.

Veritone, Inc. (VERI) Market Position & Future Outlook

Veritone positions itself as a key player in the enterprise AI software and services market, leveraging its proprietary aiWARE platform to drive growth across diverse sectors, though facing intense competition and the ongoing challenge of achieving sustained profitability amidst significant investments in technology and expansion.

Competitive Landscape

The AI platform market is crowded, featuring large cloud providers and specialized AI firms.

Note: Market share percentages are illustrative for the broad AI platform space and Veritone's share reflects its niche focus relative to hyperscalers.

Opportunities & Challenges

Navigating the dynamic AI landscape presents both significant growth avenues and potential hurdles.

Industry Position

Veritone operates as a specialized provider within the vast artificial intelligence industry, differentiating through its aiWARE platform, which serves as an operating system for AI. While not possessing the scale of cloud giants, the company has carved out strong positions in specific markets like media intelligence and public safety solutions. Its future growth hinges on expanding its application footprint, particularly in generative AI, and successfully scaling its operations in sectors like energy and government. Understanding who holds stakes in the company can offer further insights; Exploring Veritone, Inc. (VERI) Investor Profile: Who’s Buying and Why? provides a deeper look. The company's trajectory depends on balancing innovation and market expansion with the financial discipline required to navigate towards profitability, a key focus following recent financial performance where revenues reached $30.1 million in Q3 2024 but losses persisted.