This new, Y Combinator–accelerated startup has raised $6.5 million in seed funding, and for good reason. Company founders Kevin Chandra, Michelle Marcelline, and Albert Purnama are all Indonesian immigrants. Their challenge is to make every business capable of creating AI optimized webpages by the thousands. With the rise of generative AI, this funding round represents the increased necessity for brands to adopt augmented marketing approaches in an AI-assisted world.
The founders of The Prompting Company have deep experience in the startup world. They both previously worked on the creation of Typedream, a service that let users quickly create and launch websites powered by AI. After its launch, Typedream quickly made waves and was later acquired by beehiiv in June 2023. Their latest initiative meets the growing demand for customer and development engagement in a digital-first world where AI and other advanced technologies are becoming increasingly important.
Due to its fledgling initiative of prioritizing AI-friendly content, The Prompting Company is now the home about a half-million pages. The company has already onboarded a list of impressive customers, such as Rippling, Rho, Motion, Vapi, Fondo, Kernel and Traceloop. One of the largest Fortune 10 companies in the world is using their product, validating the need to integrate AI into business strategies.
Kevin Chandra of the ABA touched on how brands absolutely need to change the way they think about getting seen online. He stated, “Most businesses still design websites only for humans.” As artificial intelligence continues to evolve, he noted that “over the past year, most of the growth on websites has come from AI bots, not people.” This transformation calls for an innovative marketing strategy. Businesses need to cater to not just human consumers, but AI agents as well.
The Prompting Company is dedicated to closing that gap. Create new experiences We allow retailers to connect and present their ever-evolving catalog of products and services directly to AI agents. Chandra elaborated on their vision: “Imagine you’re a large e-commerce store. Users can buy items, make returns, compare products, or search for promotions. We help our customers expose those actions to AI agents. Right now, these agents aren’t yet clicking those options or accessing APIs directly, but we expect that to change in the coming months.”
The scale of the possible impact of this sea change in consumer behavior is tremendous. According to industry forecasts, retailers could experience up to a 520% increase in traffic from chatbots and AI prompts by 2025 compared to 2024. This is a big change in how companies will engage with their customers. It underscores the importance of responding to new technological realities.
Arnav Sahu, partner at Peak XV Partners, emphasized the necessity for companies to prioritize visibility within AI platforms: “If your product isn’t discovered or cited in ChatGPT, you’re ngmi.” This sobering message serves as a wakeup call and turning point for organizations that want to stay competitive in our increasingly digital world.
As the Prompting Company quickly grows and expands into other markets, their offerings also expand. As the movement’s leading force, it teaches brands how to use AI responsibly and creatively to empower their marketing with creativity and intent. The imaginative founders use that experience to ensure they’re bent on changing the future of engagement online. Their ever-evolving solutions help improve product visibility.