In a Series A funding round led by Sequoia, AR startup Squint has raised $13 million to fuel its business growth and further develop its platform. Squint aims to connect people with the right information at the right time by using augmented reality technology. The company’s platform allows users to point their smartphone or tablet cameras at physical objects in the work environment, triggering detailed instructions, log sheets, and generative AI-based interactions. Squint’s initial focus is on B2B customers, with large enterprises like Volvo, Siemens, and Colgate-Palmolive already using its platform to manage workflows in factories and industrial settings.
Key Takeaway
Squint, an AR startup, has raised
3 million in a Series A funding round led by Sequoia. The company’s platform offers a dynamic and specific solution for business users, allowing them to create AR-based workflows tied to specific actions and areas of a machine’s system. Squint’s goal is to eliminate the need for traditional search bars and revolutionize how people access and interact with information and data.
AR for Business Workflows
Unlike its name suggests, Squint has a wider goal beyond its initial focus on B2B customers. CEO Devin Bhushan envisions eliminating the need for traditional search bars and the time spent searching for information and data. The concept for the company originated when Bhushan was working as an engineering manager at Splunk, where he helped develop Splunk AR—a tool that maps data onto physical machines for real-time insights. Although customers showed interest in the tool, Bhushan realized they were trying to use it for other workflow purposes outside of Splunk’s scope. This led to the founding of Squint and its innovative approach to AR-based workflows.
A Dynamic and Specific Solution
Squint’s platform offers advantages over traditional methods of providing assistance in industrial or hands-on roles. The solution is dynamic and specific, allowing businesses to create workflows tied to specific actions and areas of a machine’s system. The platform’s AI capabilities include computer vision for object recognition and generative AI for interactive question-and-answer interactions. This enables a more streamlined and efficient workflow experience for users.
Investment Support from Menlo Ventures and Sequoia
Before the Series A funding round, Squint had already received support from both Menlo Ventures and Sequoia. As part of Menlo Labs, Squint incubated the company with help from Tim Tully, a Menlo Ventures partner who previously served as the CTO of Splunk. Squint also participated in Arc, an early-stage program by Sequoia for mentoring startups. Jess Lee, a partner at Sequoia and a former colleague of Bhushan’s at Yahoo, expressed her enthusiasm for the platform, comparing her initial experience with Squint to the intuitive magic of using an AirTag.
