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The ability to search across a corpus of internal enterprise data is not a new phenomenon.
But to do it with the latest AI technology brings about a shift in how workers find information across emails, meeting notes, chats, cloud storage, CRMs and more.
That’s the bet Read AI is making with the debut of a new product called Search Copilot.
The Seattle startup launched in 2021 with an engagement and sentiment measurement product for meetings. It later released other productivity software tools that analyze information shared across various workplace communication channels.
Its latest expansion is into enterprise search, enabling users to quickly find information across thousands of applications and analyze terabytes of data.
Users can choose what data is discoverable. Search Copilot gets “smarter” as more workers add more data, and allows for collaboration. The new tool can also nudge users to take action based on past interactions with colleagues or customers.
The product is free to use with certain limits. Read AI CEO David Shim said reducing barriers is a key differentiator.
“People haven’t been able to understand the value of enterprise search because they haven’t had access to it,” he said.
Shim said Read AI’s ability to determine what’s important for an individual user also gives Search Copilot an edge over other AI search tools.
Read AI’s competitors include built-in tools from platform companies such as Microsoft, Google, Zoom, and others. Its tools work with those platforms, but Read is aiming to differentiate itself in part by working across platforms.
The 42-person startup is adding 40,000 new accounts daily, Shim said, with 50% of users coming from developing markets. The company grew its annual recurring revenue by 5X last year.
Total funding to date is $81 million, including a $50 million round raised in October. The company is ranked No. 27 on the GeekWire 200, and is up for the Next Tech Titan award at the GeekWire Awards.
Shim and his co-founders — Elliott Waldron and Rob Williams — previously worked at location analytics startup Placed, which was acquired by Snap for more than $200 million in 2017.
