Writer is Building the Autonomous AI Platform of Tomorrow, Today with $1.9 Billion in Funding

Imagine a young startup, not yet four years old, boldly betting on a technology that most industries hadn’t even heard of. Back in 2020, long before large language models became a household term, Writer’s co-founders, May Habib and Waseem Alshikh, took a leap of faith on transformer models, imagining them as the invisible threads that could weave entire enterprises together, revamping how work gets done. They saw what others couldn’t—the boundless potential of LLMs not just as text generators but as the engine powering mission-critical workflows for the world’s largest organizations. And that vision? It’s paid off in ways even they couldn’t have predicted.

Fast forward to today, and Writer’s ambition to reshape enterprise AI has earned it a staggering $1.9 billion valuation and a $200 million Series C investment led by a consortium of powerhouse backers like Iconiq, Premji Invest, and Radical Ventures. This isn’t just another investment round; it’s an affirmation of Writer’s rapid ascent in the world of generative AI, where its proprietary Palmyra language models have already been put to work across industries from healthcare to finance. Top investors, including Salesforce Ventures, Adobe Ventures, B Capital, Citi Ventures, IBM Ventures, and Workday Ventures, are now rallying around this startup, eager to see what Writer will do next.

With this new funding, Writer plans to accelerate its journey into AI “super app” territory, a realm where its platform can autonomously navigate enterprise applications, execute multi-step processes, and handle complex data analysis with minimal human intervention. In the hands of companies like Uber, Qualcomm, and Dropbox, Writer’s Palmyra models have gone beyond simple text generation, powering sophisticated applications such as customer service automation, legal data management, and even SEO-optimized content production.

But Writer’s transformation didn’t happen overnight. Over four years of intense development, Writer has built a suite of tools that have become essential for enterprises navigating the complex landscape of generative AI. The platform’s “full-stack” capabilities offer everything from graph-based Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) to advanced observability tools and AI guardrails that give companies unprecedented control over their AI applications. Writer’s models, now some of the top performers in HELM benchmarks for finance and healthcare, have been optimized specifically for enterprise use, ensuring not only accuracy but also reliability in high-stakes environments.

CEO May Habib says it best: “At Writer, we’re not waiting for an autonomous AI platform of the future. We’re building it. Every tool, every feature we’ve added is focused on bringing that vision to life today.” This pragmatic approach to AI, coupled with an unwavering commitment to customer success, has been Writer’s secret sauce. They’re not just selling software; they’re partnering with clients, co-developing solutions that slot seamlessly into enterprise workflows, empowering workers from financial advisors to product teams to clinical professionals.

Writer’s impact goes far beyond streamlining operations. For enterprises dealing with hundreds of applications and siloed workflows, Writer offers a bridge to connect disparate systems, providing centralized control through a sophisticated “control plane” with powerful AI guardrails and custom rules. This means Writer’s clients, from CXOs to front-line workers, have complete oversight of AI-driven tasks, while also benefiting from no-code app builders and custom AI models that are tailored to each organization’s unique needs.

The funding from Series C is not only a testament to Writer’s success so far but also a nod to the future of enterprise AI. With fresh capital, Writer aims to further refine its Palmyra models, extend its automation capabilities, and hire hundreds of experts in engineering, product development, and sales to keep up with their ambitious roadmap. Habib envisions a near future where Writer’s AI doesn’t just assist but actively learns, adapts, and ultimately becomes the connective tissue of the modern enterprise. “We see a world where software writes software that uses software,” she says, hinting at Writer’s vision for AI that can not only perform tasks but think strategically across workflows, transforming work itself.

As competitors like OpenAI, Anthropic, and Cohere vie for dominance in the enterprise AI landscape, Writer has taken a different approach, offering bespoke applications and full-stack solutions tailored for specific sectors. This “screaming product-market fit,” as Radical Ventures’ Rob Toews puts it, has given Writer a critical edge in a fast-moving market. For customers wary of generic LLMs that may produce unreliable results or leak sensitive data, Writer’s vertically integrated approach ensures that everything—from the underlying models to the end-user applications—is managed in-house, allowing them to “control their own destiny,” as Premji Invest’s Sandesh Patnam aptly describes.

Writer’s journey is proof that AI’s greatest potential isn’t in standalone apps or isolated workflows—it’s in becoming a cohesive, intelligent framework for entire organizations. By the end of this year, Writer expects to hit $50 million in annual recurring revenue from over 300 clients who rely on their platform to drive innovation and productivity in unprecedented ways. This success has been a mix of relentless innovation and an unbreakable commitment to customer collaboration, delivering AI solutions that not only elevate performance but fundamentally change how work gets done.

And so, with $200 million in fresh funding, Writer isn’t just poised to compete; it’s positioned to lead. As Habib looks ahead, she’s not just thinking about the next round of feature rollouts or new hires but about a future where enterprise AI reaches its full potential. Writer is building that future now, bringing us closer to a world where work is not just more efficient but more creative, engaging, and, as Habib puts it, “joyful.”