Linkup, a startup developing a search engine specifically for artificial intelligence systems, has successfully raised a $10 million seed funding round. The investment was led by Gradient and saw participation from prominent angel investors, including the founders of Mistral AI, Datadog, and Dataiku. This capital infusion will fuel Linkup's mission to provide AI agents with the critical infrastructure needed to access reliable, real-time information from the web.
Addressing AI's Information Gap
Contemporary AI systems face a significant limitation as their knowledge is frozen at the time of their training, creating an 'airplane mode' problem. This prevents them from accessing current events, recent market data, or the latest scientific research. This inherent latency severely restricts their effectiveness in dynamic, real-world environments where up-to-date information is paramount for accurate decision-making.
The consequences of this information gap are particularly severe in mission-critical sectors such as finance, healthcare, and enterprise operations. Decisions based on outdated data can result in costly errors, misleading conclusions, and significant reputational damage. Therefore, the reliability and autonomy of advanced AI systems depend entirely on their ability to connect with a stream of accurate, timely data.
Reinventing Search for a New Era
Simply connecting AI to traditional search engines is not a viable solution due to a fundamental design mismatch. Platforms like Google were built for human interaction, delivering lists of hyperlinks that require manual navigation and interpretation. AI agents, in contrast, require raw, structured data that can be processed immediately, making the link-based format inefficient and cumbersome.
Furthermore, conventional search indexes are optimized for human engagement, prioritizing popular or well-marketed content over factual accuracy. This model is unsuitable for AI systems that require verified information from trusted sources, not content engineered for clicks. Linkup's approach bypasses this engagement-driven framework by focusing exclusively on data integrity and source credibility to serve its non-human users.
An Innovative Indexing Technology
Linkup is rebuilding web search from the ground up with a technology designed natively for how AI processes information. Instead of indexing entire web pages, its system extracts and indexes discrete 'atoms of information,' such as individual facts or data points. This granular method creates a more precise and contextually relevant knowledge base perfectly suited for AI queries.
The platform utilizes embeddings, or mathematical representations, to comprehend the semantic meaning behind queries, moving beyond simple keyword matching. When an AI queries its API, it receives verified and structured information from hundreds of sources in milliseconds. This technology powers the company's new product, Linkup /fast, the world's most accurate sub-second web search API for AI.
Fueling Growth and Market Adoption
The new capital will be instrumental in accelerating Linkup's global expansion and product development. The company plans to significantly grow its engineering and research teams across its offices in New York, San Francisco, and Paris. This strategic investment will enhance its core infrastructure to meet the rapidly growing demand from the AI industry.
Since its launch, Linkup has already gained significant market traction, demonstrating a clear need for its solution. The platform is already trusted by leading AI companies like Artisan and global enterprises such as KPMG to power their systems with current information. This early adoption from industry leaders validates the company's vision of building essential infrastructure for autonomous AI.
With its new funding and proven technology, Linkup is strongly positioned to become a foundational component of the AI-powered web. By providing the essential rails for AI agents to access and process reliable, real-time information, the company is solving a critical industry bottleneck. Its work is set to redefine how intelligent systems interact with the world's vast repository of knowledge.