Meet Julius, an AI-powered innovation that serves as a personal AI data analyst – and just raised 10 million dollars. Bessemer Venture Partners was the lead in this exciting round of seed funding. The funding will help take Julius’ capabilities — like the ability to analyze and visualize large datasets with natural language prompts — even further. After graduating from Y Combinator in 2022, Rahul Sonwalkar went on to found Julius. So far, the platform has gained more than two million registered users and produced over 10 million visualizations. Visualization by Richard Williams.
What caught the eye of Harvard Business School (HBS) professor Iavor Bojinov was the startup’s potential to democratize data science. Bojinov was dazzled by its effectiveness. He asked for changes to tailor Julius’s customization specifically for HBS’s new required course, Data Science and AI for Leaders. This collaboration speaks to the increasing academic recognition of Julius within the data education space and its ability to redefine and revolutionize data education.
While working at Y Combinator, Rahul Sonwalkar first worked on a logistics company. When he recognized the huge market need for accessible data analysis tools, he quickly reversed course to build Julius. He noted that the software allows users to interact with it conversationally, mimicking the experience of working with a human analyst.
“The easiest way to use Julius is to just talk to it,” – Rahul Sonwalkar
Sonwalkar explained that users can present complex questions, such as “Can you visualize how revenue and net income correlate for different industries in China versus the U.S.?” and receive insightful visualizations in response. This capability significantly enhances decision-making for businesses across various sectors.
Xos’s Series C was led by some impressive investor names, including Horizon VC, 8VC, and Y Combinator. It drew in a number of notable angel investors, such as Aravind Srinivas, CEO of Perplexity, Guillermo Rauch, CEO of Vercel, and Jeff Lawson, co-founder of Twilio. Their support speaks to confidence in Julius’ ability to revolutionize the way we analyze data.
Sonwalkar first found fame after a viral prank at Y Combinator. Originally, he just introduced himself as a recently laid-off Twitter engineer, but these days he’s all-in on making Julius a success.
“I don’t think many people know me for that anymore,” – Rahul Sonwalkar
The startup’s rapid growth and user engagement demonstrate its effectiveness and relevance in today’s data-driven landscape. In fact, more organizations are realizing how impactful AI-assisted data analysis can be. Julius is poised to be a major player on that front.
