SAN FRANCISCO (Diya TV) — 8090, the enterprise artificial intelligence startup led by Chamath Palihapitiya, has raised $135 million in a Series A funding round as the company works to expand its workforce and scale the computing infrastructure behind its AI software platform.
The round was led by Salesforce Ventures, with participation from WndrCo, Craft Ventures, The Production Board and LAUNCH. The company also received backing from several prominent angel investors, including Palo Alto Networks CEO Nikesh Arora, Quora CEO Adam D’Angelo, Cliff Robbins, Shyam Ravindran, Abhi Arun and Thomas Laffont.
Palihapitiya, a well-known technology investor, former Facebook executive, founder of Social Capital and co-host of the “All-In” podcast, is now serving as 8090’s co-founder and CEO. His leadership role adds a high-profile name to the company as it looks to grow in the competitive enterprise AI market.
The new funding marks a major step for 8090 as demand for AI-powered software tools continues to grow across industries. The company said the investment will support its long-term mission while helping it meet rising customer demand.
8090 plans to use the capital in two main areas. First, the company will hire more employees as the business expands. Second, it will invest in additional computing resources and infrastructure. Those upgrades are intended to improve the speed, quality and reliability of its AI platform.
The company develops what it calls an AI-native Software Factory. The platform is designed to help organizations build new software systems, modernize older applications and speed up software development. Rather than replacing teams, 8090 says its platform works alongside business and technology teams to help them complete projects more efficiently and with greater oversight.
8090 is focused on customers in regulated and complex industries, including healthcare, life sciences, insurance, aerospace, energy, manufacturing, financial services and government. These sectors often require strict compliance, strong security and dependable software systems, making quality and accountability especially important.
According to the company, its Software Factory helps organizations manage software development with more documentation, collaboration and auditability. The platform is built to give business leaders more visibility and control as artificial intelligence becomes more common in critical business operations.
Palihapitiya said the rise of AI represents a major shift in technology and compared the current moment to earlier waves of change in the internet and social media industries. He said that after leaving Facebook, he had been waiting for the right opportunity to return to a full-time operating role, and that 8090’s work made the decision clear.
