Venus Williams Becomes Co-Founder Of Palazzo, An AI-Based Startup Specializing In Interior Design

Venus Williams is offering a new way to plan decorating your home.

Fast Company reports that the tennis champion has co-founded Palazzo, an artificial intelligence (AI) startup for interior home design. The company comes after Williams founded V Starr, her interior design firm, in 2002.

Launched in beta, Palazzo aims “to be the first step in redesigning a room or starting a larger home renovation.”

“We want to make design fun and easy,” Williams said, according to the outlet. “If you talk to anyone who says, ‘I’ve just gone through a renovation,’ they’ve about had a heart attack. We don’t want that. We want people to be able to see [the design], feel confident about it, and have fun with it.”

She added, “Our vision is to create a space where everything home is in one place.”

Alongside Williams are co-founders Raffi Holzer, CEO of Avvir, and Edward Lando, founder of Pareto Holdings.

The way Palazzo works, according to Fast Company, is a user uploads a photo of a room and speaks with an AI chatbot. Then, the user receives a visual of what their potential makeover can look like.

Users are given 10 credits for free when they first start using the app. What’s more, Palazzo won’t monetize its rendering credits, per the report.

“Unless you’re a professional, things on the internet should be free,” Holzer shared, according to Fast Company. “I think the general population’s expectation. And I think there are companies out there that are trying to fight that wave. But then I don’t, I’m not into fighting human nature.”

Regarding monetization, the outlet shares that Palazzo will offer links to purchase furniture that looks like the type that is generated on the app.

“Ultimately, we want people to just be able to access design,” said Holzer told Fast Company. “And the way we can make money is we’re creating this multisided marketplace.”

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