Koch venture arm invests in industrial AI startup Emanate
The companies did not disclose the size of the strategic investment in the a16z-backed sales software developer.
Koch Disruptive Technologies is making a strategic investment in Emanate, a San Francisco startup developing AI software for industrial sales, Fortune reported on October 14. Neither company disclosed the investment amount.
Emanate says its software connects information across suppliers’ existing systems to help manage customer accounts, pricing and sales. Founder and CEO Kiara Nirghin said the product maintains a knowledge graph of account interactions and can operate around the clock.
The startup emerged from stealth in February with backing from a16z, Peter Thiel and Reddit cofounder Alexis Ohanian, according to Fortune. Nirghin is a Thiel fellow and former Google Grand Prize winner.
Koch Disruptive Technologies Managing Director Jon Chisholm said the firm sees opportunities for AI to help companies grow revenue, beyond reducing costs. Koch says it generates more than $125 billion in annual revenue and employs about 120,000 people across more than 50 countries.
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Emanate declined to identify customers, citing confidentiality agreements, and did not provide customer revenue or margin figures. The company previously claimed its product could increase customer revenue by 60% to 80%.
Nirghin said Emanate compares accounts using its software with other accounts over the same period to measure results. She said deployments begin with human oversight, with the system gaining more autonomy as it demonstrates outcomes.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Diego Almada Lopez. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
