Over the last couple of years, Canva has pushed hard into generative AI. Over the last 10 years, it has become one of Australia’s best startup success stories. Yet, it’s another younger local AI player that is getting more spend from customers globally in the space.
Last week, Andreessen Horowitz’s new ‘AI Apps 50: Where Startups Spend on AI‘ list was released. Lorikeet, an Australian AI company focused on customer service automation, ranked eighth globally for startup AI spend. It came in nine places above Canva, which sat at number 17.
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The report, produced by a16z in partnership with fintech firm Mercury, uses real banking transaction data from more than 200,000 startups to show where companies are actually directing their AI budgets.
Unlike most rankings based on web traffic or venture funding, this one reportedly captured real spending. This made it an interesting snapshot into which AI tools startups are paying for.
The report also highlights that spending across the AI landscape is fragmenting rather than consolidating.
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Startups are paying for a growing mix of specialised tools rather than relying on one or two dominant players. According to a16z partners Seema Amble and Olivia Moore, companies are still “picking their own flavour” of AI software, suggesting the market hasn’t yet settled into clear winners.
That being said, the top of the list is dominated by major model providers such as OpenAI and Anthropic, followed by fast-rising development platforms like Replit and Freepik.
Lorikeet’s placement puts it ahead of a range of high-profile global names, including Perplexity (#12), Lovable (#18), Midjourney (#28), Grammarly (#32), Otter.ai (#41) and CapCut (#44).
It also puts it firmly in front of Canva as it continues its move towards an IPO. It has also very publicly pivoted to AI tools since 2023.
This has been through its ‘Magic Suite’, which now underpins much of its platform. It has also expanded its AI capabilities through acquisitions, including Sydney-based MagicBrief and Leonardo.ai.
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Yet its AI evolution has not been without friction. Earlier this year, Canva confirmed its first round of redundancies, with 10 of its 12 technical writers laid off after integrating AI tools into their workflows.
This prompted questions about how the company’s promise to “amplify, not replace” human creativity will play out in practice.
What is Lorikeet and why is it making waves?
Founded in 2023, Lorikeet uses generative AI to automate customer interactions, training on a company’s own chat logs, tone of voice and documentation. The idea is to provide on-brand responses at scale.
It sits in the “vertical” AI category identified in the report, meaning tools designed to augment or replace specific business functions rather than general productivity suites.
And the company is scaling fast.
Just two months ago, Lorikeet raised $54 million in Series A funding, less than a year after publicly launching its universal AI agents for customer service.
The round, led by QED Investors, valued the company at more than $200 million and followed a $14.4 million raise back in February this year and a $9 million seed round in October 2024.
Its Series A also marked the first time since Canva that Australia’s three leading venture capital firms, Blackbird, Square Peg and Airtree, have backed the same early-stage startup.
Lorikeet’s ‘concierges’ are already used by several Australian unicorns, including Airwallex, Linktree and Eucalyptus, as it takes on global customer service players like Intercom, Zendesk, Decagon and Sierra.
Founders Steve Hind and Jamie Hall have previously revealed that Lorikeet has grown revenue tenfold since late 2024 and plans to double down on R&D and international expansion throughout 2025.