An AI technology startup in Raleigh has scored $2 million in investment, with plans to keep growing.
MuukLabs co-founder Ivan Barajas Vargas said the round, made up of existing investors, will get the company to a larger Series A. He sees the infusion as a “celebration” of the progress the company has made, and said it will support its next phase of growth.
MuukLabs, which has 32 employees, develops an AI-powered no-code software testing platform, the brainchild of entrepreneurs Vargas and Renan Ugalde.
Last year, the firm won an infusion from the Google for Startups Latino Founders Fund, one of several accolades it’s racked up over the years.
Vargas immigrated to the Triangle from Mexico 13 years ago, initially to work at EMC (now Dell) in Research Triangle Park. The entrepreneurial bug hit while he was pursuing an MBA at UNC-Chapel Hill. He and his co-founder compiled their savings accounts and started MuukLabs, winning an NC Idea grant as their first outside capital in 2019.
In 2020, it participated in Tech Stars Kansas City. And it inked multiple grants since inception, including from the National Science Foundation.
The firm, according to SEC filings, has raised about $4 million in venture financing.
The latest raise, at nearly $2.1 million, is part of a planned $2.3 million fund. So far 31 investors have participated, according to a securities filing.