Julius AI, a San Francisco-based startup revolutionizing data analysis through artificial intelligence, has successfully raised $10 million in a seed funding round led by Bessemer Venture Partners. This fresh capital injection comes as the company continues to expand its innovative platform that enables users to interact with complex datasets using natural language, effectively democratizing data science for non-technical audiences.
The seed round saw participation from prominent investors including Horizon VC, 8VC, Y Combinator, and the AI Grant accelerator. Adding further weight to the investment were notable angel investors such as Aravind Srinivas, CEO of Perplexity; Guillermo Rauch, CEO of Vercel; and Jeff Lawson, co-founder of Twilio. Founders from influential tech companies like Notion, Replit, Intercom, Dropbox, and Zapier also joined the round, showcasing strong industry confidence in Julius AI’s vision and technology.
Founded by Rahul Sonwalkar after graduating from Y Combinator in 2022, Julius AI originated from a pivot away from a logistics startup Sonwalkar initially developed during his accelerator program. Recognizing a pervasive challenge—many users struggle with traditional spreadsheet tools, coding, and data visualization—Sonwalkar set out to build a conversational AI platform that acts as a virtual data scientist. Julius AI allows users to ask complex questions about their data in plain English and receive detailed, visualized answers within seconds, bypassing the need for coding or formula expertise.
Today, Julius AI boasts over two million users who have collectively generated more than 10 million visualizations, spanning industries as diverse as finance, hospitality, education, and legal technology. The platform connects directly to data warehouses, generates code behind the scenes, and produces insightful charts and predictive models based on natural language prompts. Users can pose queries such as, “Can you compare product sales in Q1 and Q2 by region?” or “Visualize how revenue and net income correlate for different industries in China versus the US,” and Julius delivers clear, actionable insights.
This focused approach sets Julius apart from broader AI systems like ChatGPT, Anthropic’s Claude, or Google’s Gemini. While those platforms offer wide-ranging conversational capabilities, Julius specializes in data science applications, catering specifically to users who need quick, accurate, and visually intuitive data analysis without technical barriers. Sonwalkar emphasizes this niche strategy, stating, “Being focused on a use case is really important.”
Julius AI’s impact has extended into academia as well. In 2024, Harvard Business School professor Iavor Bojinov recognized the platform’s potential and incorporated it into the school’s curriculum. Bojinov invited Sonwalkar to tailor Julius for a new required course, Data Science and AI for Leaders, underscoring the startup’s growing influence on how future business leaders engage with data-driven decision-making.
Despite its rapid ascent, Julius AI’s founder is no stranger to the spotlight for reasons beyond technology. Shortly after Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter (now rebranded as X), Sonwalkar gained viral attention by staging a prank outside Twitter’s headquarters. He introduced himself to reporters as “Rahul Ligma,” a fictional recently laid-off Twitter engineer. While the stunt captured public imagination temporarily, Sonwalkar insists that his current recognition is grounded firmly in Julius AI’s achievements. “I don’t think many people know me for that anymore,” he reflected in a prior interview. “I get recognized for Julius a lot more now.”
The $10 million funding will support Julius AI’s mission to broaden access to data analysis by enhancing its AI capabilities, expanding platform features, and accelerating adoption among teams and enterprises worldwide. Bessemer Venture Partners, a global venture capital firm managing over $20 billion in assets with offices across the U.S., India, Israel, and Europe, leads this round, signaling strong confidence in Julius AI’s growth trajectory.
As data becomes an increasingly vital asset across sectors, tools like Julius AI are poised to transform how organizations harness their information. By eliminating technical hurdles and making data analysis conversational and intuitive, Julius is not only empowering business users but also reshaping the future landscape of AI-driven insights.
