Visual AI startup NEX raises $3.5 million seed round led by Foundation Capital

• NEX creates "controllable and IP-consistent" image-generation models for creative tasks.
• Foundation Capital led the company's $3.5 million seed round.
• CEO Darius Lam strives for NEX to be the "visual media tool for the AI era."

Creating an advertising campaign is no easy feat. "It's a whole operation," said NEX CEO Darius Lam. To pull off a campaign, major brands fly celebrities and athletes to a studio, hire professional photographers, and shoot images with the product they're marketing, whether it's jewelry or a handbag, said Lam. "Gathering a set of images might cost thousands or tens of thousands of dollars."