Artificial intelligence startup Bridgetown Research, which develops AI-powered agents for research and analysis for private equity, consulting and strategy professionals, has secured $19 million (Rs 165.7 crore) in a Series A funding round, which was led by Lightspeed and Accel.
The Seattle-based company, which has offices in New York, London, and Bengaluru, said the round also saw participation from a major research university whose name was undisclosed.
The startup claims to have developed AI agents that execute research autonomously. Notably, these agents include voice bots that are trained to recruit and interview industry experts, gathering primary data that can be analyzed alongside alternative data.
"AI is causing widespread disruption across many enterprise functions, and Bridgetown Research is riding that wave by assisting executives in making important strategic decisions," said Anagh Prasad, an investor at Accel.
Bridgetown Research, whose investors include Lightspeed, Accel, and Sequioa Capital, was founded by Harsh Sahai in 2023. Prior to founding Bridgetown Research, Sahai led the machine learning teams at Amazon and strategy engagements at McKinsey & Co.
According to the AI startup, private equity and venture capital firms that have used its platform were able to screen their deal pipelines much faster, with initial analysis just taking 24 hours instead of the usual weeks.
"We are working with multiple private equity firms, management consulting firms, and corporate teams to help make strategic decisions better and faster. This, in turn, is driving up demand for advisory and information services downstream," Sahai said.
