Runway, headquartered in New York City, is a pioneering AI company focused on generative models and tools for video, imagery, and multimedia storytelling. Founded in 2018 by Cristóbal Valenzuela, Anastasis Germanidis, and Alejandro Matamala, the company seeks to democratize creative production through AI.
Runway’s suite of models—such as Gen-1, Gen-2, Gen-3 Alpha, and Gen-4—enable users to generate, edit, and transform video content via text or image prompts. These models tackle key challenges like maintaining temporal consistency (ensuring characters and objects persist across frames) and narrative continuity—which have historically limited the quality of AI video generation.
The company operates a web-based platform and API, making its creative tools accessible to both professionals and hobbyists. Use cases span film editing, visual effects, design, storytelling, virtual production, and experimental art. Its tools are embedded into workflows in entertainment and media, with Runway collaborating with studios to co-develop content and workflows.
By 2025, Runway had raised large financing rounds and scaled to become one of the leading names in generative video. Its ambition is to evolve from a video model company to a “world simulator”—a system that understands and generates coherent dynamic environments rather than just isolated visual frames. Under CEO Cristóbal Valenzuela, Runway continues pushing the boundary where creativity meets computation.
