Startup Convergence has announced raising $12M in investment for developing an innovative platform of universal AI agents with long-term memory. The pre-seed round was led by venture fund Balderton Capital with participation from corporate investors Salesforce Ventures and Shopify Ventures.
The company’s founders, CEO Marvin Pourtorab and CTO Andy Thulis, have impressive experience in artificial intelligence. Before creating Convergence, they worked on developing recommendation systems and AI assistants at Shopify, and then joined the Cohere team, specializing in corporate AI solutions.
“Honestly, we left [Cohere] because we had been experimenting with agents for several years already, about three to four years,” explains Pourtorab, noting that the market wasn’t ready for such technologies before.
The company’s key product is the universal agent Proxy, using Large Meta Learning Models (LMLM) technology. Unlike existing solutions focused on highly specialized tasks, Proxy can adapt to various workflows thanks to a “long-term memory” system that allows it to acquire skills similar to humans.
“There are many companies in the market now creating ‘narrow’ agents: for sales, HR, or financial operations. We chose a different approach, developing the foundation for the first class of universal agents that can adapt to specific user needs. We don’t see a future where everyone will have a thousand different specialized tools. Over time, consolidation will occur, and this is where we’ll find our niche,” Pourtorab comments on the company’s strategy.
To implement ambitious plans, Convergence is actively recruiting talented specialists from leading technology companies, including Google DeepMind, Meta, OpenAI, and PolyAI. James Wise, partner at Balderton Capital, emphasizes the founders’ unique competencies: “Few possess Marvin and Andy’s experience and skills, making them ideal candidates for solving complex technical challenges in creating a product at Proxy’s level.”
The raised investments will be directed towards developing innovative models underlying Proxy assistants. The company plans to create technology that will allow artificial intelligence to effectively perform routine tasks, freeing up employees’ time for strategic decision-making.
