Klu, the innovative large language model (LLM) platform with a presence in both London and San Francisco, is celebrating a significant milestone. The company has successfully raised $1.7 million in pre-seed funding, spearheading a mission to empower the rapid emergence of dedicated AI engineers and teams within organizations. The round was expertly led by firstminute capital, known for their investments in groundbreaking companies like Lindus Health and Quench.ai.
This noteworthy achievement also saw the active participation of renowned venture capital firms, including a16z, Sequoia Capital, Craft Ventures, and Atomico. Angel investors from prominent technology companies such as Superhuman, IBM, and Productboard added to the formidable lineup of supporters.
Founded in 2022 by Stephen M. Walker II and Stefan Sabev, Klu offers an integrated suite of products designed to accelerate the journey from concept to optimized LLM-powered features, leveraging the capabilities of large language models like GPT-4.
Klu simplifies this intricate process with solutions like Klu Studio, facilitating swift prototyping, Klu Engine for seamless access to leading AI models such as GPT-4 and Llama 2, Klu Eval for running AI-powered evaluations on new iterations, and Klu Optimise for harnessing real-world usage data to continuously enhance outputs through fine-tuning.
Notably, Klu's platform enables businesses to deploy, monitor, and enhance their AI applications in under 10 minutes, a remarkable feat given that this process typically spans months or even quarters when building internal operational systems.
Klu stands out by offering support for all major LLM providers, including OpenAI, Azure OpenAI, GCP Vertex, and AWS Bedrock. The platform also facilitates smooth connections to various data sources, accommodating 24 different file types. Customers can seamlessly integrate their LLM-powered apps created through Klu with an array of partners, including Salesforce, Atlassian, Supabase, Asana, Intercom, Zendesk, Slack, Notion, and Google.
With over 500,000 weekly requests and an impressive average weekly growth rate of 10%, Klu is setting a new standard in the AI landscape. The company's dual presence in London and San Francisco reflects its commitment to providing exceptional service and driving innovation.
Firstminute Capital's Sam Endacott expressed his enthusiasm for Klu's vision, saying, "We are thrilled to back Klu as they enable the next generation of AI-powered software. With Klu, knowledge workers can spin up AI-based internal workflows to automate repetitive tasks and embed AI workflows into their products for customers to experience. This is a major product challenge which is why Stephen and Stefan with their prior roles at Productboard and Skyscanner are the right duo to solve this problem."
Klu's CEO and co-founder, Stephen M. Walker II, highlighted the company's pivotal role in the evolving AI landscape, stating, "The layoffs of late 2022 shifted modeling work from data scientists to product teams consuming AI APIs. These new AI Teams use Klu to launch LLM-powered features in days that outperform old models built over months."
