This Entrepreneur Used LinkedIn To Raise $13.8 Million

Benjamin Harvey founded AI Squared, a third-party software startup that integrates AI insights into commercial applications.

He came up with the idea for the startup after working as the chief of operations for the National Security Agency’s (NSA) data science division. According to Forbes, NSA scientists uncovered significant gaps in real-time data and analytics for US military troops.

After more than a decade at the NSA, the Bowie State University Ph.D. graduate joined Databricks, a data and analytics startup, as a solutions architect. While at Databricks, he convinced Matei Zaharia, the company’s co-founder, on the possibilities of AI Squared.

Harvey stated that Zaharia referred to it as “Reverse ETL for AI ML,” which translates to “extract, transform, and load” data from AI and machine learning. “Databricks stops at building models,” Harvey stated. “We need technologies that can support integrating those insights from those models into applications” that generate business outcomes.

Harvey had a difficult time getting his business started. He had to be creative and daring about it, especially in terms of money. He told Forbes that he started AI Squared in 2019 by maxing out a $20,000 credit card and withdrawing $500,000 from a retirement account he and his wife jointly control.In 2022, he adopted an unorthodox approach to attracting investors, making a direct pitch on LinkedIn. He reasoned that a businessman such as Roger Ferguson, the former CEO of TIAA, would value his type of firm.

“Dr. Ferguson,” Harvey wrote in February 2022, “‘Here’s some of the work that we’re doing in financial services. I would love to just have a 15-minute phone call with you.” Ferguson responded by inviting him to have breakfast at the Four Seasons in Washington, D.C.

“When I have a vision,” Harvey told Forbes, “I’m relentless in trying to make it a reality.”

Ferguson and Baltimore-based New Enterprise Associates (NEA) helped Harvey finance $13.8 million in a Series A round in March. Venture firm Ansa Capital led the investment round.Since its creation, the firm has raised a total of $20 million from investors.

Harvey stated that his Washington, D.C.-based company employs 30 people and has contracts with the US Air Force, US Navy, the NSA, Nasdaq-listed cybersecurity company Rapid7, and a Coca-Cola contractor in Florida. The company makes money by charging for product license and data consumption.

“Over the past five years,” Harvey said, “organizations have been building a lot of these world-class [AI] models. But they haven’t been able to actually receive the full value of those models. We’re helping bring AI and machine learning to life.”

The company intends to leverage the current capital to expand its operations in order to fulfill anticipated demand for AI-as-a-service software platforms.

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