Conducting thorough due diligence can be a significant financial burden, extending beyond just investment scenarios. For a business aiming to introduce a new product or investigate potential partnerships, sourcing the correct data and performing the necessary research can consume weeks of time and escalate costs, particularly when external agencies and consultants are factored in.
A fresh AI enterprise named Bridgetown Research claims it can reduce these costs and expedite the research process. By utilizing AI agents, the startup aims to automate much of the data collection and investigatory work linked to due diligence. Recently, Bridgetown secured $19 million in a Series A funding round co-led by Accel and Lightspeed as part of this initiative.
Founded in December 2023 by Harsh Sahai, a former research scientist at Amazon and ex-McKinsey employee, Bridgetown Research has developed three distinct types of AI agents. These agents, according to the company, can gather information, synthesize it, and present the results in a user-friendly format.
Bridgetown leverages the networks commonly used by consultants and researchers to obtain insights: networks filled with industry experts who provide valuable perspectives on specific firms or sectors. The startup collaborates with these expert networks, employing its AI voice agents to conduct interviews and gather the pertinent information clients require.
“Insiders can log on and interact without the need for scheduling calls with a human,” Sahai remarked during an interview. “Instead of consulting a single senior executive, you can engage with numerous mid-level professionals, vastly increasing the scale of information gathered.”
The second set of agents utilizes large language models (LLMs) along with clustering and regression techniques to analyze the data collected by the voice agents, ultimately relaying this information back to the LLMs for summarization. The final set of agents converts this analysis into a coherent format, such as a presentation.
Thanks to these agents, the startup asserts it can deliver an initial due diligence analysis within 24 hours, incorporating responses from hundreds of participants.
Sahai mentioned that clients have the option to either independently harness Bridgetown’s agents for data gathering or engage an external consultant or boutique firm to collaborate with the agents, thereby ensuring analysis quality comparable to that offered by firms like McKinsey or Bain.
While this approach seems enticing, concerns persist regarding the potential for large language models and the AI agents that utilize them to generate inaccurate information—commonly referred to as “hallucination.” Sahai addresses this through what he calls a “steerability and audibility” method.
This approach allows clients to review the data and trace each step the agent took to reach its conclusions, akin to how some AI models present their reasoning. Moreover, the voice agents record their discussions with interviewing experts so that the gathered information can be verified manually.
He further clarified that the AI agents gather data from a variety of sources rather than relying solely on one. They collate information, interpret it through large language models, and utilize finely tuned models for data processing.
“Our method is unique; it’s something we haven’t encountered elsewhere,” Sahai indicated. “Many platforms expect you to gather the necessary information, after which they will process it on your behalf.”
Bridgetown is not the only startup seeking to simplify the due diligence landscape, with others in the field such as Mako AI and DiligentIQ already operational. However, Sahai contends that competing platforms fall short of providing a sufficiently comprehensive solution.
Bridgetown Research currently serves two clients in the U.K. and around twelve in the U.S., comprising prestigious private equity and venture capital firms, consulting companies, as well as large corporations involved in the M&A pipeline, according to Sahai.
Compiled by Techarena.au.
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