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French AI startup H raises $220 million seed round | TechCrunch

May 21, 2024 - techcrunch.com
Paris-based startup H, formerly known as Holistic AI, has announced a $220 million seed round just months after its inception. The AI startup, led by former Stanford researcher Charles Kantor and four co-founders from Google's DeepMind, aims to develop AI agents to boost worker productivity. The funding round attracted a range of investors, including billionaires Eric Schmidt, Xavier Niel, Yuri Milner, Bernard Arnault, and Motier Ventures, as well as VC funds Accel, Bpifrance’s Large Venture fund, Creandum, Elaia Partners, Eurazeo, FirstMark Capital, and Visionaries Club. Industrial investors Amazon and Samsung also participated, along with UiPath, a European robotic process automation unicorn.

The funding will be split between equity and convertible debt, with around 40% being a traditional equity investment. The company plans to use the funds to expand its team of 25 engineers and scientists and to pay for compute and data power. Despite the ambitious goal of reaching full Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), the company acknowledges that this is more of a marketing promise due to the uncertainty surrounding AGI's feasibility. The startup is part of a growing AI ecosystem in Paris, which is attracting a significant amount of AI startups and talent.

Key takeaways:

  • H, a Paris-based startup previously known as Holistic AI, has raised a $220 million seed round just a few months after its inception.
  • The startup, which is working on AI agents to boost worker productivity, was founded by a team including former DeepMind employees and a Stanford researcher.
  • Investors in H include billionaires such as Eric Schmidt and Xavier Niel, VC funds like Accel and Bpifrance’s Large Venture fund, and industrial investors like Amazon and Samsung.
  • The company has already assembled a team of 25 engineers and scientists and plans to use some of the funding to pay for compute and data power, with the goal of reaching full Artificial General Intelligence (AGI).
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