TollBit founders Olivia Joslin and Toshit Panigrahi announced that the company has raised $24 million, led by Lightspeed, in Series A funding for its platform. The platform has created a fluid payment system benefiting both AI companies and content creators.
TollBit enables AI agents and applications to pay websites directly to use their content or data. And TollBit enales publishers and content owners to monitor AI bot traffic and put up a tollbooth to monetize usage.
This platform makes it easy for publishers to onboard multiple AI and LLM partners in real time. The first clients have begun using the system, which will benefit content creators and make AI more useful and up-to-date. AI news reader app Particle is now paying publishers through TollBit.
By offering tech infrastructure and a payment protocol, TollBit helps AI companies use content without legal uncertainty. The system relies on tokens issued and validated by the platform to ensure every scrape or use is authorized and logged.
The support of two major new investors, Lightspeed and Section 32, was welcomed as both venture capital firms focus on the growth of new technologies. And additional investments are from industry veterans Jeff Dean and Manuel Bronstein.
This funding announcement follows strong growth since the company’s March 2024 seed round totaling nearly $7 million. TollBit’s initial funding came from top investors with ties to digital media, tech, and AI. This seed funding round was led by Sunflower Capital and included participation from AIX Ventures, Lerer Hippeau, Checker Media, Operator Collective, and Liquid 2. Additional early funding came from BDMI.
TollBit also revealed that it has secured partnerships with its first AI companies and onboarded over 200 publisher sites. And publisher partners include Penske Media Corporation, TIME, Mumsnet, Trusted Media Brands, CANDR Media Group, and ADWEEK.
KEY QUOTES:
“This market has grown so fast and we find both sides working with us to find mutually beneficial solutions. Our platform supports multiple 1:1 deals between publishers and AI companies. That solves the problem that both sides face with unscalable and time-consuming one-on-one negotiations.”
-Olivia Joslin
“We are very excited to be pioneering a standard so that any AI application can source content directly from any publisher – large or small – under standard terms in real-time without having long, protracted negotiations. This is the only way to create a sustainable AI ecosystem.”
“We believe TollBit will create a healthier online ecosystem where publishers have the resources to invest in the quality, timely content that AI companies rely on to innovate and thrive—and that consumers expect.”
-Toshit Panigrahi
“As AI agents become more accessible and proliferate at an exponential rate, publishers and digital content owners need a way to monetize content that doesn’t rely simply on eyeballs and clicks. TollBit is the solution, addressing the needs of both publishers and AI developers — we’ll be watching and supporting the team as they innovate for tech companies in this new gen AI era.”
-Michael Mignano, Partner at Lightspeed, who will be joining TollBit’s board
“Particle is really excited about the model TollBit is championing. Our visions are aligned, and we look forward to seeing TollBit enable innovation in media while ensuring that content publishers are compensated.”
-Sara Beykpour, CEO of Particle, an AI-powered news application
“As publishers work with AI developers to build equitable partnerships, TollBit offers a scalable ecosystem solution to help news publishers monitor, provide access, and service licenses. We welcome efforts by companies like TollBit to help meet the needs of our industry, which is necessary for journalism to thrive.”
-Danielle Coffey, CEO of the News/Media Alliance, which represents more than 2,200 publishers
“TIME has always embraced innovation to expand access to our trusted journalism. We look forward to partnering with TollBit to ensure we receive fair value for our content as we uphold our commitment to providing reliable information for audiences around the world.”
-TIME Chief Operating Officer Mark Howard
“The media landscape continues to evolve rapidly as new technologies and AI tools are implemented and we are fortunate to have a partner like TollBit to help us embrace innovation in a way that can work for all of us.”
-Jacob Salamon, VP of Business Development at Trusted Media Brands, owner of media properties including Reader’s Digest
“To ensure the sustainability and growth of the evolving digital media ecosystem, innovative tools like TollBit are essential. We are excited to have partnered with them and are eager to embrace a future where the use of premium content is exchanged fairly and transparently.”
-Chris Dicker, CEO of CANDR Media Group
“As the front page and homepage for the advertising, brand, and media industries, ADWEEK is on the front lines covering how AI is transforming publishers’ business models and is an advocate for ensuring content creators are compensated and recognized for their work. We are thrilled to partner with TollBit to ensure ADWEEK will be fairly compensated for our commentary and journalism.”
-ADWEEK CEO Will Lee
