Fundamental Research Labs Nabs $33M+ to Build AI Agents Across Verticals

Applied AI research company Fundamental Research Labs, formerly known as Altera, has successfully raised $33 million in a Series A funding round. The round was led by Prosus, with significant participation from Stripe co-founder and CEO Patrick Collison. This substantial investment will fuel the company’s mission to build advanced AI agents across multiple industry verticals.

Founded by Dr. Robert Yang, a former faculty member at MIT, Fundamental Research Labs is structured unconventionally. The company aims to be a “historical” entity, eschewing typical startup frameworks to focus on developing groundbreaking AI applications. Its current operations are segmented into distinct teams: a games team, a prosumer team developing user-facing applications, a core research team, and a platform team.

The company is already generating revenue, with users paying for its AI agents after a seven-day trial. This financial traction validates the practical applications of their research.

Among its notable products is Fairies, a versatile consumer assistant. Fairies allows users to engage in conversations with an AI bot, integrate various applications, query knowledge bases across these connected apps, and automate tasks such as scheduling appointments. It enables users to set up workflows for repetitive tasks, offering a glimpse into the future of personal AI assistance.

Another key offering is Shortcut, an AI agent designed for spreadsheet-based analysis. Marketed as a “superhuman excel agent,” Shortcut functions akin to a junior financial analyst, capable of autonomous data analysis and model creation. Its interface mimics Microsoft Excel, incorporating extensive functionality for power users, and has reportedly outperformed first-year analysts from top firms in blind assessments.

“What stood out here is a small, highly mission-driven team focused on digital humans with actual use cases,” commented Sandeep Bakshi, an investment partner at Prosus. “Their recent launches, like Fairies and Shortcut, aren’t just demos; they’re already demonstrating how AI can augment the human workforce in meaningful ways.” Bakshi also noted the caliber of the team driving the vision, highlighting their ability to attract and convert top talent into real-world products.

Dr. Robert Yang shared that the company is exploring various application models and eventually aims to develop robotics. “We are working on productivity (apps) now because that is where the most value is created,” Yang stated. “You can make a lot of money doing this and build your team and tech. Eventually, we want to solve physical problems and move towards working on embodiment.”

Prior to this Series A round, Fundamental Research Labs secured $9 million in seed funding last year. The total funding raised by the company now exceeds $40 million, positioning it strongly for future growth and innovation in the AI landscape.

Correction: The Series A funding round amounted to $33 million, not $30 million as initially reported.