6 years ago, AI startup MindsDB was an open source project that few took seriously. Now it's worth $160 million and on a growth rocketship.

• MindsDB helps developers apply machine learning to their data to build AI applications. 
• Founded in 2017, the startup began as an AI open source project that some doubted in its early days.
• Now MindsDB has 100 enterprise customers and recently raised $25 million in a seed extension round.

MindsDB cofounder and CEO Jorge Torres has been an artificial-intelligence evangelist for most of his career and believes in the power of the technology for "human augmentation." 

That mindset has really driven him as he's navigated his career, first as an electrical engineer, and then a developer, wanting to build things to help people. 

"I fell in love with the programming part," Torres said. "I felt that you could build something on your laptop and have the outcome of what you build on your laptop be useful for tens of thousands of people, hundreds of thousands of people, millions of people." 

It was that "fascinating" opportunity to help people at scale with his work that ultimately led Torres to cofound MindsDB, an AI startup that essentially helps software developers take their data and apply machine-learning frameworks to build their own AI applications. 

Torres estimates that there's roughly 30 million developers in the world and MindsDB's technology will allow them to perform the roles of machine-learning engineers. That was exactly the kind of reach he had in mind. 

MindsDB recently raised $25 million in a seed extension round led by Mayfield Fund with existing investors like Benchmark and OpenOcean contributing. The round valued the startup at $160 million post-money. Less than three months before that fundraise, Benchmark led the startup's $16.5 million seed round at a $56 million valuation, Forbes reported.

Investors and businesses across the tech industry are now suddenly paying more attention to MindsDB and the utility of its technology amid an explosion in interest in AI and VCs writing rare checks these days to AI startups. MindsDB is in some ways apart of that wave and currently on a growth rocketship with no signs of slowing down. But six years ago, MindsDB was just an abstraction and later an open source AI project that few paid attention to. 

From failure to a lightbulb moment

Torres got the idea that became the basis for MindsDB while he was in between jobs. In 2016, he and MindsDB cofounder Adam Carrigan had just shut down their London-based startup Real Life Analytics, which helped to enable targeted advertising on any digital screen through visual recognition technology. The company achieved this with tiny cameras that scanned viewers of screens in public places to gauge their demographics. But, the company "failed fantastically" since hardware is a tough business to build and scale, Torres said. 

But Torres said he wasn't entirely discouraged. "We wanted to be cofounders of some big idea," he said.

After Real Life Analytics flopped, Torres went on to work for Aneesh Chopra, the former chief technology officer of the US, appointed by President Barack Obama. at his company, CareJourney. Torres said they were taking claims data from health care programs Medicare and Medicaid and applying machine learning to identify patterns that could lead to higher costs for patients. 

That experience was a lightbulb moment for Torres, who then called up Carrigan to share that he wanted to start a company that would help people apply machine learning to their data. But in the first six months of development, Torres and Carrigan encountered doubters concerning their idea. "'You're going to be able to automate the work of a machine learning engineer? That's impossible'" Torres recalled people telling him at the time. 

The Y Combinator Effect

It wasn't until Torres happened to meet Michael Seibel, Y Combinator's managing director and partner, that the startup, which by then, was an open source AI project, began to get more attention. Torres said Seibel encouraged them to apply for the startup accelerator's program and they were accepted to its winter 2020 cohort. "After YC, we became an actual company," Torres said. 

Luck has been on the company's side since, Torres admits. 

There's been a tidal wave of growth for MindsDB, particularly this year. It's now raised $41.5 million in 2023 alone with marquee investors like Benchmark and Mayfield joining its rocketship. The startup is also adding enterprise customers regularly for its paid product, which recently reached 100 customers. Torres estimates that if the company continues at this rate, it could have 200 customers by the end of June. 

To keep up with the demand of its growing customer base, Torres says his team has to "build as the airplane is flying" to ensure the user experience is spot on. 

"It is what is next for us," he said. "Guaranteeing that when we get to 18,000 users, they all have the same experience as the first 15."