In a major step toward transforming enterprise search, Onyx, an open-source AI research agent, has raised $10 million in seed funding to advance AI-powered search. The investment round was co-led by Khosla Ventures and First Round Capital, with participation from Y Combinator and angel investors, including Gokul Rajaram (Coinbase, Pinterest), Arash Ferdosi (Dropbox), Amit Agarwal (Datadog), and Kulveer Taggar (Zeus Living).
The company plans to use the funds to enhance its AI research capabilities, expand its engineering and developer relations teams, and strengthen its go-to-market strategy. This investment highlights the increasing demand for efficient knowledge management in modern workplaces.
The Vision Behind Onyx
Onyx was founded in 2023 by Yuhong Sun and Chris Weaver. Yuhong, an expert in Machine Learning and Natural Language Processing (NLP), previously worked on Deep Learning for NL-to-SQL and Semantic Search at Alation, Inc. His contributions improved translating natural language queries into structured SQL commands and enhanced enterprise search functionalities.
Chris, a former Technical Lead on Robinhood’s anti-fraud engine team, focused on developing systems to detect and prevent fraudulent activity. His strategic thinking, demonstrated by his ranking as a top-100 North American player in League of Legends, complements Onyx’s vision for AI-powered enterprise solutions.
Together, Yuhong and Chris bring expertise in AI, backend development, and system security, positioning Onyx as a game-changer in enterprise search.
How Onyx is Redefining Enterprise Search
As businesses scale, information becomes scattered across platforms like Slack, Confluence, and Google Drive. Traditional keyword-based searches often fail to retrieve relevant information, leading to inefficiencies. Onyx solves this challenge by acting as a 24/7 AI-powered coworker that indexes data from over 40 tools, including Salesforce, SharePoint, GitHub, and Gong. Its AI research agent mimics human search behavior, exploring multiple pathways to deliver precise and comprehensive answers instantly.
A Growing Client Base
Onyx’s cutting-edge approach has attracted a diverse range of clients, from entertainment industry leaders like Netflix to security-focused enterprises such as Thales Group and cybersecurity firms like Bitwarden. These organizations rely on Onyx to streamline knowledge management, enhance productivity, and improve decision-making processes.
Open-Source Innovation and Community Engagement
A defining feature of Onyx is its commitment to open-source development. This approach fosters transparency, collaboration, and continuous innovation, allowing businesses to customize the platform while contributing to a broader community focused on improving enterprise search solutions.
Future Outlook for Onyx
With its latest funding, Onyx is poised to further refine its AI capabilities, integrate with more enterprise tools, and expand its market reach. By leveraging advanced AI while maintaining an open-source ethos, Onyx is tackling the growing challenge of knowledge fragmentation in digital workplaces.
Industry Leaders Weigh In
“We are excited to work with investors who have deep expertise in AI and open-source technology to bring enterprise search and GenAI to more teams worldwide,” said Yuhong Sun, Co-Founder of Onyx. “Having worked at high-growth tech companies, we experienced firsthand the challenges of knowledge getting buried in disparate systems. Onyx offers an open-source solution for companies to solve this challenge without sending all their data to external parties.”
Adina Tecklu, Partner at Khosla Ventures, emphasized Onyx’s impact: “Enterprises often struggle with fragmented knowledge spread across multiple tools. Onyx is the open-source enterprise search solution designed with privacy and security at its core. It empowers customers with instant access to critical information, eliminating the need to switch between apps or waste time searching for answers.”
At First Round Capital, the investment decision was clear. “We invest in founders with bold visions who see things differently. Yuhong and Chris understood that companies care deeply about privacy and security. Their open-source approach is a perfect fit. The glowing feedback we received from customers made our decision to invest an easy one.”
The Future of AI-Powered Enterprise Search
As AI continues to revolutionize workplace efficiency, Onyx is leading the charge in redefining enterprise search. With its innovative AI-powered assistant, open-source commitment, and robust investor backing, Onyx is set to become an essential tool for organizations looking to maximize productivity and streamline knowledge management.
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