Brightwave's $6 Million Seed Round and What It Means for the Future of Financial Analysis

We're proud to announce that Brightwave has secured $6 million in seed funding to further our mission to transform the way humans understand the world, starting with the global financial system. This milestone, led by Decibel Partners and supported by Point72 Ventures, Moonfire Ventures, and esteemed angel investors from OpenAI, Databricks, Uber and LinkedIn, propels us toward making a significant impact on the financial landscape.

Founded by Mike Conover and Brandon Kotara, our leadership team brings decades of experience building systems that handle the world’s most sensitive and mission-critical data. Prior to founding Brightwave, Mike established and led open-source language model engineering at Databricks, and Brandon served as the CTO of LedgerX. Together with a team composed of NeurIPS-published researchers and experts from companies like Meta and Goldman Sachs, we’re poised to redefine how financial research is conducted.

“With Brightwave, we are creating a system that can reason over vast bodies of information far beyond human capacity. Artificial intelligence is a force multiplier for financial professionals, enhancing their ability to interact with and direct the focus of an AI assistant, merging their domain expertise with a system that processes information hundreds of times faster than any human.”

— Mike Conover, CEO and Co-Founder of Brightwave

The Traditional Approach to Financial Research Is Broken

For years, traditional financial analysis has been plagued by inefficiencies and limitations. Analysts are often overwhelmed by the sheer volume of information they need to process, from SEC filings and news articles to patents and legal rulings. The manual nature of this work makes it time-consuming and prone to errors, hindering the ability to make timely and well-informed decisions. The complexity of data sources and the need for meticulous cross-referencing further complicate the research process.

We’re addressing these challenges with an AI-driven research assistant that can process information from millions of trustworthy data sources in real time, synthesizing it to produce original, concise and actionable insights. This not only saves analysts significant time but also enhances the accuracy and depth of their research, enabling them to focus on strategic decision-making. 

The Future Looks Bright

“Most firms in this market don’t have the capacity to have large in-house research teams and often struggle to keep up with everything happening in the markets in a thoughtful way. Traditional software hasn’t filled this gap, as it lacks the flexibility to serve the diverse range of industry players effectively. Brightwave has brought together top AI talent to build one of the best products I’ve used in my career. The ability to have an on-demand expert who can help me think through different markets at different levels of granularity is something that wouldn’t have been possible before. These capabilities are a testament to the uniqueness of Brightwave’s approach, far surpassing other AI solutions we’ve seen promoted in the market.”

— Alessio Fanelli, Partner @ Decibel

In just four months, we've seen phenomenal growth. Our customer base has expanded rapidly, including diverse funds and firms managing over $120 billion in assets, which range from small, owner-operated RIAs to major hedge funds whose trades move global markets. Our technology serves as a critical tool in their decision-making processes, enhancing their ability to understand new sectors, evaluate equities and develop robust investment theses.

Looking ahead, Brightwave aims to expand its capabilities and applications beyond the financial services industry. Our ultimate vision is to create AI technologies that distill critical relationships within global economic systems, empowering professionals and scientists in diverse fields such as corporate strategy, biology, computer science, law and politics. By continuing to push the boundaries of AI, we aspire to unlock transformative insights that drive progress and innovation across industries.

Ready to accelerate research workflows, improve investment theses and step into every interaction prepared to lead with a sophisticated view? Contact us to schedule a demo and experience the future of financial research for yourself today.