New York City-based activist entrepreneur, Sheena Leven has made entrepreneurial history. For her company, she recently closed a $2 million pre-seed funding round, led by Precursor Ventures. This new influx of capital will allow Empromptu to quadruple its staff. Additionally, it will help foster the creation of innovative, state-of-the-art proprietary technology that makes building artificial intelligence applications a breeze for companies.
Leven’s vision is to empower exceptional founders to transform the most ambitious companies in the world. They do this without requiring founders to be technical experts in AI skills. She knows the challenges entrepreneurs face when they are intimidated by hard technology. She says it’s tools like Empromptu that can really help close that gap.
Ahead of her visit, Leven reflected on her journey as an entrepreneur. She shared two key lessons she wishes she had learned while building her first company, CodeSee. The first lesson was about discerning real business needs from wishful thinking. It inspired us to go under the surface and identify what’s real and what’s fake. She stated, “Security, compliance, reliability, quality, those things don’t just go away for enterprise applications.”
The second lesson emphasized the need to focus on enforcing basic principles. Principles, even when it comes to new technologies such as AI. Leven’s approach makes sure that Empromptu stays true to these foundational principles while taking advantage of exciting technological advancements.
Leven is a refreshing departure from other platforms that prioritize fast, exploratory, rapid prototyping “vibe coding.” Rather, Leven is committed to developing a bigger, better fix. “Vibe coding is excellent for quick experiments, but Empromptu is what turns those experiments into real software,” she explained.
In a world of rapid technological change, Leven is preparing. Empromptu is looking to make a serious dent against more established companies, especially the likes of Replit and Lovable. She emphasizes that working with AI is “no different than any other form of technology.” When you equip people with the right tools and support, anyone can learn to implement AI effectively to improve core business processes. “The beauty of this skill is that AI can help you learn it along the way,” she added.
With the new cash Leven is in a good position to break through on the enterprise AI frontier. The new resources, along with a streamlined hiring process, will help ease hiring challenges. Further, they’ll work with us to create features that enhance user experience and maximize application impact.
For those interested in following developments in the technology and startup space, Dominic-Madori Davis, a senior venture capital and startup reporter at TechCrunch, is available for comment. He can be reached securely over Signal with an encrypted message at +1 646 831-7565. TechCrunch will host an event in San Francisco from October 13-15, 2026, which will showcase various innovations and ventures in the industry.


