Keenable raises $26M to build web search tools for AI agents

In short: Keenable says it raised $26 million to build a large web search index designed for AI agents.

What happened

Keenable, a startup founded by Andrey Styskin and Matthias Petri, is coming out of “stealth mode,” meaning it has been working quietly before speaking publicly. The company announced a $26 million seed funding round, led by venture firm Accel, with participation from Conviction Partners and other investors.

Keenable says it is building a web search index of more than 100 billion documents. An index is like a giant library card catalog, it helps you quickly find what you need without reading every page of every book. Keenable’s focus is not regular people typing into a search box, but “AI agents,” which are AI systems that can search, read, and take actions on your behalf.

The company says its tools are already used by some AI labs and “inference providers,” which are companies that run AI models for customers. Keenable did not name customers, but it said it partnered with voice AI company Gradium to support live information retrieval, meaning pulling up fresh sources while a conversation is happening.

Why it matters

More people are using chatbots to look things up, and chatbots often work better when they can point to source documents instead of guessing. At the same time, Google and Microsoft have been limiting or retiring some older search data access options for developers, according to the report. That could create more demand for new companies that sell web search access built for AI systems.

Source: TechCrunch AI