Genspark, the developer of a new search engine powered by large language models, today disclosed that it has raised $60 million in funding.

Singapore-based investment firm Lanchi Ventures led the seed round. Reuters reported that the raise values Genspark at $260 million. The investment comes amid reports that several other startups in the AI-powered search market are seeking new funding.

Genspark, officially Mainfunc Inc., provides a free search engine of the same name that it positions as an alternative to Google Search. The company says that its service can help users find relevant information faster. According to Genspark, the LLMs that power its search engine draw on multiple sources to answer queries and verify each response by checking it against “trusted databases.”

The service organizes the information it finds into so-called Sparkpages. Each Sparkpage contains an AI-generated article that explains the topic about which the user inquired and provides links to relevant websites. On the left side of the interface, a table of contents displays shortcuts for jumping to specific paragraphs.

Genspark also provides access to a built-in chatbot. It allows users to ask follow-up questions about a Sparkpage article, as well as access prompt recommendations that suggest related topics.

Similarly to Google, Genspark’s service includes an interface section dedicated to online shopping. That section doesn’t display AI-generated articles but rather a collection of product listings from e-commerce websites. Each listing includes about a half-dozen AI-generated bullet points that describe the product’s advantages and weak points. 

Users can have Genspark’s embedded chatbot narrow down shopping options based on criteria such as price. When more information is needed, the AI is capable of generating an entire Sparkpage article about a product. Such articles include, among other items, customer reviews sourced from e-commerce marketplaces.

Genspark says that its platform is powered by a combination of internally-developed and third-party LLMs. The third-party models are provided by OpenAI and Anthropic PBC. In the future, that list could reportedly be expanded with additional LLMs such as Meta Platforms Inc.’s open-source Llama 3.

Genspark, which currently has employees in Palo Alto and Singapore, plans to open a Seattle office using its newly announced funding round. The company will also explore the possibility of monetizing its search engine by offering paid subscriptions. Those subscriptions would offer additional features not available in the free version.

Genspark’s funding announcement comes a day after Reuters reported that rival You.com Inc., a competing search startup, is finalizing a $50 million investment. Earlier, sources told TechCrunch that Perplexity.ai Inc. is seeking to raise at least $250 million at a valuation exceeding $3 billion. Perplexity offers a free LLM-powered search engine with a paid tier that has a higher daily query limit and provides data analysis features.

Image: Genspark