Phaze raises $8.75 million seed round led by a16z to build remote desktops for humans and AI agents

The founders who already built one remote desktop company and sold it are back for round two. Their new startup, Phaze, has raised an $8.75 million seed round led by Andreessen Horowitz.

The pitch is secure remote computer access for two kinds of users: people and AI agents. One of those groups did not need a desktop until very recently.

The details of the round

Phaze is based in New York City and announced the funding on November 4, 2026. Andreessen Horowitz, better known as a16z, led the round.

Indie, NextView, Makers, and Lerer Hippeau also took part.

The company plans to put the money toward growing its engineering team, building out the product, and scaling up customers.

Phaze is still small. The company has approximately ten employees, was founded around 2024, and started rolling out beta releases in 2026.

What Phaze actually does

Think of it as streaming a powerful computer to wherever you happen to be sitting. You use a modest machine, but the heavy lifting happens on a remote workstation that feels like it is under your desk.

The technical goal is low-latency access that feels local.

That is why Phaze is targeting graphics-intensive work. The company names 3D design tools, CAD software, Blender, and Unreal Studio as core use cases.

The more unusual feature is shared sessions between humans and AI agents. A person and an AI agent can work inside the same remote session in real time.

Phaze also supports model context protocol (MCP) servers so agents can handle background tasks. Put simply, an AI agent can keep working on chores in the session while the human focuses on something else.

For corporate buyers, the platform includes enterprise IT controls. Centralized management and audit logging are built in, so IT teams can see who accessed what and when.

A familiar playbook from familiar founders

Phaze is the second company in this space for founders Benjy Boxer and Chris Dickson. Their first was Parsec, which became a leader in graphics-intensive remote access.

Unity acquired Parsec in 2021.

Why the timing works

Phaze is arriving as hardware gets more expensive. Hardware costs have reportedly climbed to three times higher, which makes buying a top-tier workstation for every employee a harder budget conversation.

Shared high-end machines are the obvious workaround. If a single powerful workstation can serve several people, and some AI agents, the math starts to look different.